A British company is out to prove that breathalyzers are for more than detection of drunk drivers.
Owlstone Medical has signed a service agreement with AstraZeneca, also based in the U.K. The collaboration will explore how its technology can be used to identify biomarkers related to asthma and COPD breathing disorders.
Owlstone Medical will provide AstraZeneca with access to its Breath Biopsy Services including development of classification algorithms to identify breath biomarkers for medicine applications across asthma and COPD, a release stated.
Breath Biopsy offers a non-invasive approach to identify breath-based biomarkers that could help to stratify and monitor patients so that they receive the right therapy at the proper dosage, the release stated.
An estimated 334 million people worldwide have asthma1 and 251 million suffer from COPD, a disease often related to smoking.
Billy Boyle, co-founder and CEO at Owlstone Medical, said: “This agreement with AstraZeneca demonstrates our unrivaled expertise in breath biomarkers. Through our Breath Biopsy Services, we are well positioned to assist the AstraZeneca team to explore how Breath Biopsy can identify novel biomarkers for asthma and COPD and to optimize their application in precision medicine.”
AstraZeneca has narrowed its focus over the years to fewer disease areas that include COP and asthma.
One of AstraZeneca’s top drugs is Symbicort, an inhaler used in relieving symptoms of COPD and asthma. Symbicort has faced stiff competition from other drugs.
