Shares in Scottish life sciences firm Omega Diagnostics spiked in early trading after it secured major new investment for its allergens business.
The Alva-based group saw its stock rise by more than 9% after Scottish Enterprise signed off on a £1.8 million research and development grant.
The company said the allocation represented a “significant contribution towards the total R&D project costs” to fund the planned expansion of its Allersys range of reagents used in allergy in-vitro diagnostics.
The cash will be used over the next three years to almost treble the number of validated allergens on the Allersys platform to 120.
A portion of the grant will also be used to establish a global health scientific team to screen future product opportunities in resource-limited settings.
Founder and chief executive Andrew Shepherd said the new funding would help Omega to exploit the commercial opportunity offered by the allergy field.
Research from the World Allergy Organisation estimates that between 30% and 40% of the global population is affected by one or more allergic diseases.
The allergy diagnostics market is forecast to achieve a compound annual growth rate of 12.67% through to 2019.
Mr Shepherd said: “We are delighted with this level of commitment from Scottish Enterprise which has supported the company over a number of years.
“Teams from both organisations worked hard to deliver an outcome that will support economic growth in Scotland, as well as providing new products with global export potential.”
Jim Watson, SE’s director of innovation and enterprise services, said the investment gave Omega a commercial advantage over its rivals.
“This R&D grant, together with the company’s investment in its Alva site, means Omega can expand its current product range to target new export markets in an accelerated timeframe, giving Omega excellent competitive advantage,” Mr Watson said.
“As Scotland’s innovation agency, we support innovative companies like Omega to achieve their global growth ambitions quickly.
“It’s also fantastic to see this grant helping Omega to recruit 14 new skilled staff at its Alva facility over the next three years.”