Team:CMUQ/Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship
Proposition of Value
CASPRE- Preliminary Genetic Testing Kit
In an endeavor to provide equal access to genetic testing to people, reduce production cost per sample, and increase time efficiency, CASPRE was developed. While the kit offers our users a preliminary testing method that can be used on-field to test for specific gene mutations, the mechanism can also be used in labs to perform a quick check for almost any gene of interest. This is possible due to the flexibility of the mechanism which stems from the design of the guide RNA, directing the detecting protein to the desired sequence. The increased portability that allows it to be used on-field also makes it perfect for use by individuals in the comfort of their homes. Thus, our product reduces time and cost of sequencing or karyotyping, whilst also maximizing mobility and giving the consumer a feasible alternative to complex and expensive genetic testing.
Market Analysis
Potential Market
Half of the World Population goes without access to basic, essential health care [1]
Available Market
135.3 million people currently in need of humanitarian assistance [2]
Target Market
97.9 million people within reach of humanitarian organizations [3]
Penetrable Market
13 million Syrian refugees by 2018 [4]
Economic Evaluation
| Equipment | Price (per test) |
|---|---|
| Guided RNa | <$0.10 |
| Cas12a Protein | $1.70 |
| Biomarkers | $1.60 |
| Buffer | < $0.10 |
| DNA extraction reagents | $2.00 |
| Total | $5.50 |
Interest from Industry
In an endeavor to provide equal access to genetic testing to people, reduce production cost per sample, and increase time efficiency, CASPRE was developed. While the kit offers our users a preliminary testing method that can be used on-field to test for specific gene mutations, the mechanism can also be used in labs to perform a quick check for almost any gene of interest. This is possible due to the flexibility of the mechanism which stems from the design of the guide RNA, directing the detecting protein to the desired sequence. The increased portability that allows it to be used on-field also makes it perfect for use by individuals in the comfort of their homes. Thus, our product reduces time and cost of sequencing or karyotyping, whilst also maximizing mobility and giving the consumer a feasible alternative to complex and expensive genetic testing.
Funding
Following the established interest from industry, we believe that our current partners will continue to support us and help our product reach pharmacies, humanitarian organizations and laboratories. Thus far, all of our research has been supported by CMU-Q, and we expect to continue working in CMU-Q laboratories with full support. Additionally, we believe that the hospitals and clinics that have provided us with test samples and expressed an interest in the product will also play a role in the product’s funding, helping a local startup.
We also believe that our product has two major strengths in terms of social support, as we are one of the first local startup dealing with biological innovation, with two startup incubators serving as potential settings for the early stages of our company. Alongside this fact, the positive implications for humanitarianism has helped, and will continue to help popularize our product, with many large corporations potentially supporting the project as part of their social responsibility objectives.
Lastly, amongst the many benefits that our product offers, we believe that the greatest value lies with the consumer, as they are being given an alternative to expensive, time-consuming and often inaccessible genetic testing. For this reason, we believe that crowd-funding could serve as an option in the early stages of the business idea, allowing us to market the product and initiate production.
Vision
Our team’s strong belief is that the greatest value of our product doesn’t only lie in its accessibility and cost, but actually in the future possibilities that it promises for the field of genetic diagnostics. This future promise is the result of our team’s foresight throughout the development of our mechanism, using techniques that enable our final mechanism to diagnose a broad range of genetic diseases asides from Sickle-Cell Anemia and Cystic Fibrosis, with the only requirement being a slight adjustment to the mechanism, whilst the device remains fully compatible for all tests. We hope that the result of this scalability to many diseases will lead to our product becoming even more appealing to the market and its stakeholders, attracting more support and enabling continued increase in usage and improvement of our product.
It is for these reasons that we believe in a bright future for our product, with countless opportunities for growth and development, and a team that is fully committed to pursuing these opportunities.