Imagine two keys that look identical but one opens a door and the other jams the lock; that is how some drug molecules work. This technology uses special twisted light on a tiny chip to tell these 'mirror-image' molecules apart instantly. It allows scientists to test tiny drops of liquid, making drug discovery much faster and less wasteful.
Drug developers struggle with slow, expensive, and sample-heavy methods to verify the purity of mirror-image molecules (enantiomers). Failure to accurately identify these forms can lead to drug toxicity or lack of efficacy.
A set of lab-on-a-chip photonic sensors integrating photonic crystal fibers and metasurfaces for chiroptical spectroscopy.
If you are a drug discovery firm dealing with slow enantiomer purity testing and high sample waste — this project developed a lab-on-a-chip sensor that enables analysis of sub-nanolitre volumes. This reduces sample consumption and increases diagnostic speed for clinical trials.
If you are a nanomedicine developer dealing with the need to optimize biological tissue penetration of contrast agents — this project developed nanophotonic devices that measure absolute configuration and purity. This ensures the safety and efficacy of nano-platforms before human testing.
If you are a device manufacturer dealing with the demand for remote, distributed medical analysis — this project developed integrated chiroptical spectroscopy on a chip. This allows for the creation of compact, easy-to-use tools for fast clinical trials.
The technology enables reduced sample consumption and parallelization of tests. Based on available project data, these factors lead to overall cost reduction in the drug discovery process.
The project focuses on lab-on-a-chip (LOC) integration, which is a driving force for innovation in the biochemical industry. Based on available project data, it aims for high-throughput processing and analysis.
The project develops new-generation photonic sensors, including photonic crystal fibers and metasurfaces. Based on available project data, these represent a new technological toolbox for a market exceeding 100 billion Euros.
Agencies require manufacturers to systematically investigate drug enantiomers for safety and efficacy. This tool provides a fast and accurate way to determine enantiomeric purity to meet these requirements.
The project period runs from 2022-04-01 to 2026-07-31. Based on available project data, the first 30 months of work have been performed.
The consortium is research-heavy with 4 universities and 4 research institutions, balanced by 2 industrial partners (including 1 SME). This 20% industry ratio suggests the project is currently focused on high-risk technical validation and fundamental nanophotonic development rather than immediate commercial rollout.
Contact the Universita Degli Studi dell'Aquila
Contact us to identify licensing opportunities for this nanophotonic sensing tech.
