Genedrive (AIM:GDR) has highlighted an unsolicited endorsement from the UK government, as this week Health Innovation and Safety Minister Preet Kaur Gill cited the company's rapid pharmacogenetic test by description during evidence to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee's inquiry into NHS innovation.
In London, the shares climbed 6.2%, to 1.3p, in reaction to the bullish update.
The AIM-listed point-of-care pharmacogenetic testing company said the test (Genedrive MT-RNR1 ID Kit) which identifies genetic variants in newborn babies that significantly raise the risk of permanent hearing loss when treated with certain antibiotics.
"We now have a rapid test that can identify that risk before treatment is actually given," Gill told the committee. "That's really, I think, a powerful example of what personalised medicine means in practice."
The CE-IVD approved kit was developed in collaboration with Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, with research backed by the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre and the University of Manchester.
It is currently being deployed across NHS neonatal intensive care units through the PALOH-UK programme and has transitioned to routine clinical use at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, with further hospital transitions under discussion.
