Grant: Engage Grants Program

MedMira is a public, Canadian company located in Halifax, Nova Scotia that develops and commercializesrapid diagnostic tests built on its patented Rapid vertical Flow (RVF) technology. The Company has a numberof commercialized products on the market built on their RVF technology platform. Briefly, MedMira's rapiddiagnostic platform is a simple (3 step) procedure that enables instantaneous detection of an analyte in fluidsamples, such as whole blood or serum. Results are visually interpreted.Mastitis is the most common and costly disease in dairy production around the world. The disease has beenrecognized as the most frequent reason for antibiotic use in dairy cows. The economic impact of mastitis isrelated to the cost of treatment and control, lost milk production, and discarding of milk after cows are treatedwith antibiotics.There are currently no available on-farm rapid diagnostics for mastitis that allow pathogen identification. Assuch, the current practice is the blanket use of antibiotics for all cases of mastitis. MedMira RVF technologyplatform could be used to develop a rapid analytical tool that could be used on the farm, enabling immediateon-farm therapeutic decisions.The project objective is to develop an analytical tool using MedMira's RVF for on-farm diagnosis of mastitispathogens in milk samples from dairy cows. This application is to develop an analytical tool capable ofdetecting a single pathogen (Streptococcus agalactiae). However, MedMira RVF has capacity to detect multiplebiomarkers associated with other pathogens using a single test device and the long-term vision is to develop atest that encompasses all major mastitis pathogens.This project will lead to the development of a single pathogen rapid diagnostic for mastitis that will lead toimproved economics for dairy farmers. Development of the device will enable MedMira to enter new nationaland international markets leading to increased sales, jobs and opportunity to conduct additional development.