Technology developed by Scottish biotech Biotangents, which has announced its latest investment round, is set to revolutionise the dairy farming industry with the world’s fastest on-farm, point-of-care diagnostic device aimed at addressing disease in dairy cows. Bovine mastitis alone is estimated to cost the global dairy farming industry around £20 billion every year, costing the average UK dairy farm up to £25,000 per annum.
The company developed its technology due to the timeframe of existing diagnostics, which take so long that farmers resort to presumptively treating herds, predominantly with antibiotics that are estimated to be unnecessary in up to 40 percent of cases. In turn, this increases the anti-microbial resistance of the herd, decreases life expectancy, and increases milk wastage, leading to negative environmental impact and significant costs.
Biotangents’s solution is a cost effective, innovative on-farm molecular diagnostic device that provides highly accurate results in less than two hours, safely enabling the farmer to make an informed treatment decision. The data is sent to the farmer’s phone and, if required, can be sent to their management system, vets, and milk processors.
While focused on next generation diagnostics for the animal health sector, Biotangents also sees future applications for its technology, including in human healthcare and environmental monitoring.
The £2.3 million investment round was led by St Andrews-based investment firm Eos and British Business Investments through their Regional Angels Programme, and existing investors and Kelvin Capital and Scottish Enterprise. Senior agritech adviser Nicky Deasy joins the board on behalf of Eos as an investor director. Following the investment, Biotangents will commence on-farm trials across the UK and internationally later next year.
Fiona Marshall, CEO of Biotangents, said: “Biotangents is on the cusp of full market launch with a technology that leads to better herd health, much improved productivity, and significantly higher levels of sustainability.”
Jill Arnold, Investment Relationship Director at Eos, said: “Scottish science that improves lives, and has global market potential, is core to our focus at Eos and Biotangents fits that criteria perfectly, not just in terms of addressing antimicrobial resistance in livestock, but also in improved animal husbandry.”
Ross McDermid, CCO at Biotangents, said: “This investment endorses our game-changing technology, and means we can now seize the huge market opportunity to support farmers, vets, and the wider dairy industry.”
