More plaudits for MediSieve as malaria filter device impresses at Pitch@Palace  
 

MediSieve has won yet more plaudits for its magnetic filter device that captures and removes red blood cells infected with malaria by taking a runner-up spot at Pitch@Palace 5.0.

Pitch@Palace is a twice-yearly event that sees between 12 and 15 UK entrepreneurs pitch to an audience of around 300 CEOs, angel investors, mentors, key business partners and The Duke of York, KG.

Speaking from the event, Dr George Frodsham, founder of MediSieve, said: “It has been another great day for MediSieve. It’s amazing that The Duke of York and so many influential people in the business and scientific communities are seeing the potential in our innovation and giving it such overwhelming support. There’s a long way to go but an event such as this is a huge stride forward for the company, as it enables us to meet and be introduced to people who could be invaluable in helping us get the device through clinical trials and to those who need it. In my pitch I jokingly asked for Bill Gates’s phone number, but during the event afterwards I was introductions to individuals very close to him. It adds to the growing optimism that we can really take the fight to malaria.”

Pitch@Palace 5.0, which took place on Monday 7 March 2015, was the first event in the series to be broadcast live over the internet. People could vote online in the “People’s Choice Awards”, but the winners on the night were chosen by those attending the event.

The winner of the event was JustMilk, which is developing a nipple shield that delivers drugs and nutrients safely to infants via breastfeeding. Also taking a runner-up spot was Doctify, on online directory of UK doctors, consultants, physiotherapists and other healthcare professionals. The People’s Choice Awards was won by Cambridge Oncometrix.
 

Earlier this year, MediSieve won the Innovate UK Smart 2015/16 – Proof of Concept Award worth £100,000. In September 2015, the company announced it had secured £350,000 in seed funding from angel investors. In December, it won a Wellcome Trust Pathfinder Award along with £102,000 to fund a 12-month project to manufacture and test clinical prototypes of its device.

Treatment with MediSieve’s device involves no drugs or chemicals and offers new hope for malaria patients whose cases are severe or resistant to existing medicines. Initial trials show that the 3D printed magnetic blood filter could extract up to 90 per cent of infected cells from a person with malaria in under four hours.

Red blood cells infected with a malaria parasite have magnetic properties. This enables MediSieve’s device to capture them without affecting healthy cells. The process is similar to dialysis in that infected cells are captured as blood passes through an external loop. Rapid removal of infected cells has the potential to turn back the clock on severe malaria reducing symptoms, severity and mortality.

MediSieve’s breakthrough comes at a time when scientists are increasingly concerned about drug resistant strains of malaria. Today, three of the five strains of the disease that affect humans can resist antimalarials – and they’re spreading across Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar.

Malaria is one of the world’s most deadly diseases. Some 207 million cases are diagnosed every year, claiming 600,000 lives. Very often, the disease is untreatable, either because diagnosis is too late or the strain is resistant to drugs currently available.
 

MediSieve’s treatment could be used when drugs become ineffective or to supplement existing drug treatments. The magnetic device could help patients manage malaria and keep symptoms at bay indefinitely.

For more information, visit www.medisieve.com and follow on Twitter.

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