Singapore: Eureka Eurostars scheme has awarded around $1 million (€779,493) to a consortium, which is being led by VolitionRx, in order to develop new applications of Nucleosomics biomarker technology in inflammatory disease.

VolitionRx, which is lead partner of the consortium, will contribute towards the project by developing novel NuQ biomarkers for immune response. VolitionRx will use its proprietary Nucleosomics platform for biomarker development exploiting UK-based Alcyomics' proprietary ex-vivo Skimmune model.

Under the grant, VolitionRx, which won the BioSpectrum Asia Pacific Emerging Company of the Year 2013, will be reimbursed with 80 percent of the costs associated with its share of the joint project, worth around $0.56 million (€420,000), over two years.

The Eurostars Programme is a European innovation program managed by Eureka. It is the first program dedicated to supporting research-based small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) from across Europe. To be eligible for the grant, companies must form a consortium of at least two companies from different European countries, with the aim of developing a civilian-purposed new product, process or service.

Mr Mark Eccleston, external collaborations manager, VolitionRx, said that, "The Eurostars scheme is a prestigious European program designed to support SMEs like VolitionRx, and to encourage cross-border research and development collaboration. We are looking forward to working with our partners to develop novel applications for our Nucleosomics technology, while complementing our ongoing research in cancer diagnostics."