8. July 2020

Anja Boisen receives a large grant from the BioInnovation Institute

The BioInnovation Institute (BII) has awarded Professor Anja Boisen a grant of DKK 18 million for a three-year project in drug monitoring. The goal of the project is to develop a system that can lead to a startup business. The grant is primarily based on the sensor research done at the DNRF Center of Excellence IDUN, where Professor Boisen is the head of center.

Professor Anja Boisen
Professor Anja Boisen. Photo: Mikal Schlosser, the Technical University of Denmark

The BioInnovation Institute (BII) invests up to DKK 70M for science-based projects to foster innovation and startups in health technology. Professor Anja Boisen, who is the head of center at the DNRF Center of Excellence IDUN, is one of the recipients of the BII grants and will be supported with a total of DKK 18M for a drug-monitoring project over the next three years. The grant is primarily based on the sensor research done at IDUN at the Technical University of Denmark.

“IDUN was created through two large grants from the DNRF (for drug delivery) and the Villum Foundation (for sensor development), respectively. With the extension of IDUN from the DNRF, only the drug delivery part can be continued. The new grant from BII makes it possible to continue both activities and exploit the enormous synergy that exists between the two activities that now are almost merged. Synergy is also the reason why we use our sensors in the medical field at all,” said Professor Boisen.

The project aims to develop a miniature disc that can perform therapeutic drug monitoring based on a single drop of blood in only a few minutes. The group will work on a solution that benefits point-of-care testing without the need for specialized staff and at a fraction of the current cost. The goal of the project is to develop the technology far enough during the grant period that it will subsequently result in a startup business.

“We are very much looking forward to work with BII, which will, in addition to supporting our research, help us identify the most relevant uses of our sensors so that we can hopefully start a new health tech business in three years,” said Professor Boisen.

Boisen’s group joined the BII on July 1, 2020, together with groups led by DTU Professor and Scientific Director Morten Alexander Sommer and Professor Jay Keasling of the University of California, Berkeley, USA. Professor Boisen will be the first to lead a group at the BII Faculty in Health Technology.

Find more information about the project in a press release from the BII here

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