Bluephage, a biotechnology company specialized in microbiological water analysis, will soon begin commercializing a rapid test that will allow detecting the possible existence of bacteriophage viruses, called coliphages, in water within six hours.
The patented technology by Bluephage, which applies a colorimetric analysis method, will be sold in all European countries, through distributors supplying laboratory material, to companies dedicated to the management of water for human consumption, whether public, private or mixed (water treatment plants, wastewater treatment plants, supply companies, industries that use well water in their food process…). The laboratories themselves will also be target clients.
To develop this project, Bluephage has just closed a crowdfunding round through the Crowdcube platform, with which it has obtained 916,000 euros, subscribed by more than 600 private investors, among whom are four family offices.
This startup was founded in 2016 as a spin-off of the University of Barcelona by the researchers of the Water Microbiology Related to Health (MARS) Research Group, Anicet Ramon Blanch ---currently CTO---, Francisco Lucena and Joan Jofre, who created the company together with its current CEO, Enric Queralt. The company is now made up of seven people.
The rapid microbiological analysis kit for environmental tests to help prevent waterborne diseases comes at a crucial time for the water analysis sector, as it is expected to generate around 1.4 billion euros in business in 2022. "It has been decisive that the European Union approved a new directive in 2020 for the control of human water consumption that mandates the monitoring of coliphages ---a type of virus---," explains Queralt. Since 2017, there was the precedent of the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations guide that established coliphages as viral indicators for control in water reuse and, by extension, for agriculture. Hence, for example, countries like Singapore use this type of control.
Bluephage's method "acts on the viral control of water, which is the most demanding evaluation ---viruses are smaller than bacteria, reproduce more quickly, and are more resistant to the environment--- and, therefore, from a microbiological point of view, we are providing more safety with these controls," explains Enric Queralt.
"Knowing that with each passing decade we will have less water available because climate change will cause, on the one hand, more desertification, and on the other, more downpours, meaning we will experience extreme episodes, water quality will be more questioned and therefore any type of control that can be carried out on water will be appreciated," insists the CEO of Bluephage.
Increasing and improving the microbiological control of water, food, and biosolids is essential to guarantee public healthUntil now, Bluephage already had two standard methods for analyzing microbiological parameters of water that are marketed in twelve EU countries, as well as in Singapore, South Africa, and Georgia. The difference and innovation that the rapid colorimetric analysis will bring is that while in the standard methods nine components are analyzed and the incubation needed to obtain the result is 18 hours, inthe rapid kit prepares the process in about 15 minutes, it is incubated and in six hours the result is obtained.
With the new product, which is manufactured in cooperation with a Catalan biotechnology company and another from Alicante, the company will mainly dedicate itself during the next year to the expansion of the Rapid Kit in Europe because the approved directive has opened a market and has shown that there is a growing demand. This does not mean that by 2023, the firm will focus on opening markets in other continents.
With the start of this new growth phase, in 2022 it is expected to triple the 100,000 euros in turnover with which Bluephage forecasts it will close this fiscal year and to scale sales so that revenues exceed one million euros by the end of 2023.
The future involves innovation in new products within the sector of microbiological analysis of water, biosolids, and food. In this regard, digital data reading systems are being incorporated, which can be added to the results evaluation system already part of current kits and which will be refined.
Bluephage, headquartered in El Prat de Llobregat with offices in Barcelona and Madrid, is the first Spanish biotechnology company to be a BCorp company, a certification that requires compliance with high social, environmental, and community standards, in addition to assuming a high commitment to transparency and sustainability, "we have always been interested in being a company that goes beyond the necessary corporate social responsibility," highlights Enric Queralt.
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