The Liverpool Echo cover Arcis Biotechnology’s latest development:

A Daresbury bio-tech firm has announced the launch of a kit for preparing DNA extracted from blood.

Arcis Biotechnology said the process takes three minutes and uses a novel two-step system sold in a ready-to-use format.

A spokesman for the company said it enables users to stabilise and extract nucleic acid from fresh or frozen whole blood samples in three minutes without the need for prior sample preparation steps.

He said the blood kit is non-hazardous and ships and stores at room temperature.

In February, Arcis Biotechnology announced it had raised £2.5m in an oversubscribed fundraising round.

Now valued at around £15m, the company said the investment will be used to continue to commercialise its ground-breaking research and development-led product portfolio.

Christopher Jones, Arcis Biotechnology commercial director, said: “The new Arcis DNA Blood Kit is the first product we have developed specifically for use up front of IVD and point-of-care technologies.

“Where access-to-instrumentation required for traditional extraction methods is not practical, this kit’s practicality and ability to be shipped and stored at ambient temperatures has big upsides for users in emerging markets.”

Full story here: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/local-news/daresbury-company-launches-easy-use-12059587