The New Frontiers in Research Fund –
Transformation Award Will Support World-Leading Innovation in Organ
Transplant.
TORONTO, Jan. 13, 2022 /CNW/ - SQI Diagnostics Inc. ("SQI"
or the "Company") (TSX-V: SQD) (OTCQB: SQIDF), a precision
medicine and diagnostics company focused on respiratory health,
congratulates the University Health Network (UHN) for winning one
of only seven prestigious "New Frontiers in Research Fund –
Transformation" awards.
New Frontiers in Research Fund is a program of the Government of
Canada that supports lifesaving,
Canadian-made innovations that can be marketed here and around the
world. The Transformation stream provides large-scale support for
interdisciplinary researchers to expand on areas in which
Canada is a global leader.
UHN has created and launched Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion (EVLP) —
technology that keeps donor lungs alive outside of the body ("ex
vivo"), by delivering heat, oxygen, nutrients and other critical
resources before transplant. Before EVLP, up to 80% of donor lungs
were discarded because of subjective clinical assessment. Now, use
of EVLP has doubled the number of lungs used for
transplantation.
UHN and SQI have already developed the
TORdxTMLUNG rapid diagnostic test, which gives
unprecedented immunological profiling of the donor lung and
identifies those best suitable for transplantation. This new award
would extend ex vivo technology and help develop new treatments to
other organ transplants, together with advances in precision
diagnostics.
"Our partnership with UHN on lung transplant is one of our most
established and important collaborations, and we congratulate them
on this well-deserved award. Led by Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, they're the top lung transplant
team in the world," says Andrew
Morris, Chief Executive Officer of SQI. "To be recognized
and supported by the Government of Canada for this accomplishment – and just as
importantly, how we accomplished it through a high-risk,
high-reward approach — is incredibly gratifying. I congratulate
everyone involved, especially the amazing team at UHN. This funding
from New Frontiers is a crucial next step in reaching international
markets and expanding ex vivo preservation and therapies beyond
lungs to other organs. We join with UHN in expressing our gratitude
to the Government of Canada for
their visionary leadership."
"We have developed lung perfusion over a series of progressive
steps, achieving Health Canada approval and global adoption. SQI
has been a vital partner to develop next generation precision
medicine diagnostic tools to identify even more donor lungs that
are viable for transplant," says Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, Surgeon-in-Chief at UHN. "We
look forward to working with SQI as our diagnostics partner for our
next-level innovations in organ transplantation."
About SQI Diagnostics
SQI Diagnostics is a precision
medicine and diagnostics company focussed on respiratory health.
The Company's innovative respiratory health and precision medicine
tests run on SQI's fully automated systems designed to simplify and
improve COVID19 antibody monitoring, Rapid Acute Lung Injury
testing, donor organ transplant informatics and immunological
protein and antibody testing by increasing throughput, reducing
costs and providing excellent data quality. For more information,
please visit www.sqidiagnostics.com.
Contact:
Morlan
Reddock
Chief Financial Officer
437-235-6563
mreddock@sqidiagnostics.com
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SOURCE SQI Diagnostics Inc.