LiteThru attracts £750K for drug analysis technology

Investment secured

LiteThru Ltd, a spin-out from the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), has secured £750,000 investment for the commercialisation of a novel, fast and non-destructive method of analysing drug composition.

Existing methods for monitoring production and checking the quality of pharmaceuticals during manufacture such as liquid chromatography, near infrared or X-ray analysis can be slow and expensive process. During manufacture it is difficult to monitor the process to ensure the correct formulation is produced, and after manufacture it can take several weeks for a batch of drugs to be tested and released to market.

LiteThru says its technology enables non-invasive, accurate analysis of capsules, tablets, powders and solutions in less than one second, even through packaging.

The technology stems from a new form of spectroscopy, Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy (SORS), which enables the analysis of objects such as capsules and tablets in blister packs or bottles, without opening them. This technique is also being investigated for the ability to diagnose breast cancer and bone disease non-invasively.

Darren Andrews, Chief Executive at LiteThru, said, “This investment is the result of successful trials with several large pharmaceutical companies and will be used to build our first rapid analysis machines. The industry response has been strong because the technology can cut the costs of mandatory testing, as well as reduce manufacturing lead-times.”

LiteThru was founded by the Central Laboratory Innovation and Knowledge Transfer Limited, the technology transfer arm of the SFTC. The current round was led by the Oxford Technology Enterprise Capital Fund and the Rainbow Seed Fund, along with two private investors.

LiteThru has an exclusive licence to exploit the STFC’s Raman spectroscopy inventions. In addition to pharmaceutical applications the technique is being applied to the diagnosis of breast cancer and osteoporosis in clinical studies. It is also being developed for security and customs applications such as screening bottles and other containers.