A BIOTECH company working to improve treatments for patients of cancer and kidney disease is vying for The Press business innovation award.

Aptamer Group, at York Science Park, develops Optimer binders as antibody alternatives for use in diagnostic tests and as therapeutics.

Aptamer is working with key global pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca, Pinotbio, and Takeda.

As part of this, the company will develop Optimer binders to deliver drugs and gene therapy to specific cells and tissues within the body. These will create novel medicines to offer new improved treatments for cancer and kidney disease patients.

Over the past year, the company has used its technology platform to rapidly generate Optimer binders to support the Covid-19 pandemic.

These reagents were developed in 17 days to enable rapid research and testing and are being developed into SARS-CoV-2 tests to aid the reopening of the economy.

Aptamer Group is collaborating with Deepverge to enable both diagnostic wastewater testing to identify local outbreaks and a rapid breath test to diagnose individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Aptamer Group are also working with Mologic to develop a lateral flow test to offer rapid diagnosis of patients with Covid-19 in just 10 minutes, which will be CE marked over the coming months.

Aptamer have also started working with a number of diagnostic companies to create new tests to improve patient healthcare and reduce costs.

The increased interest in Optimer technology from across the life science industry and new partnerships with blue chip companies recognise the investment Aptamer have made into developing its Optimer platform for increased success and performance. These opportunities leverage its strengths for diagnostics and therapeutics to benefit patients and reduce costs to healthcare systems.

The company is recruiting in the business's scientific and commercial sides.

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