New Spin-out: Oxford Medistress ltd.
1st July 2006
You think you’re stressed? A University of Oxford spin-out company is developing a new way of determining exactly how stressed you are that is proving so successful, it has already attracted interest from Manchester United as well as a major European luxury car manufacturer.
Oxford Medistress Ltd.
Oxford MediStress Ltd is commercialising a proprietary blood test that provides a highly sensitive indication of stress levels. The company is developing a portable hand-held meter to perform the rapid test from a single finger-prick of blood — enabling consumers to monitor acute and chronic stress conditions.
In the near term, the test will be used in the sporting world to monitor Olympic athletes and Premiership footballers while the long-term vision is to develop the test for wellness programmes, workplace screening and other healthcare applications. The company has already agreed an early-stage deal with Manchester United to monitor player stress. Results from the test will assist coaches in tailoring individual training programmes and monitoring recovery from injury.
The technology has also attracted interest from industrial designers in using stress-measurement as a design tool in industry. The research team, working in conjunction with Oxford University Innovation, has already agreed a deal with a major European luxury car manufacturer who is looking to develop the concept of “stress-free driving”.
Oxford MediStress Ltd test monitors stress by evaluating immune function through a method called Leukocyte Coping Capacity (LCC) unlike current systems which determine stress levels through a complicated assessment of hormone levels. With the Oxford MediStress method, a drop of blood is mixed with chemicals which mimic a bacterial challenge. The ability of the leukocytes (white blood cells) to respond to such a challenge in vitro (i.e. in a test tube) is then evaluated using a standard laboratory procedure.
The company’s technology is based on a five-year collaboration between Prof David Macdonald of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) and Dr Rubina Mian, a senior lecturer in physiology at Coventry University. Dr David Sarphie, one of the co-founders of PowderJect – another Oxford success story, brings management experience to the team.
Oxford MediStress Ltd is close to completing a seed round financing of in excess of £500,000 through the IP Group. The company plans to use these funds to complete current clinical investigations, to develop a hand-held prototype and to expand its portfolio of clients.
Alan Aubrey, IP Group’s Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to be working with Oxford MediStress Ltd and are excited by the prospects for these tests which have already attracted significant interest from blue chip organisations
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