Syft Technologies On The FDA Trail
News release, 26 August 2008, Syft Technologies Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand:
Syft Technologies has been awarded a $3m FRST RFI grant to continue their medical research programme on the back of
receiving ISO 13485 Certification.
Syft has again successfully secured a four year grant totalling over $3M dollars from the Foundation for Research
Science and Technology’s Research for Industry (RFI) programme.
Syft’s medical strategy director, Dr Jenny Scotter says: “The announcement of this funding is exciting on a number of
levels; it will allow us to continue developing our portfolio of medical applications in collaboration with our external
research teams including The University of Otago Medical School and the Canterbury DHB, which aligns perfectly with our
commercial partnering strategy.”
Syft’s latest generation Voice200 instrument was recently displayed at the 2008 Health Research Open Day held at
Christchurch Hospital. Over 1,000 visitors to the Open day saw in action the range of research activities currently
being undertaken in the quest for better health care.
Syft's Medical Projects team demonstrated the Voice200 instrument by allowing visitors to breathe into the instrument.
The Voice200 is being used as a platform technology for breath-based research into a number of medical conditions and
organ transplant-related conditions.
Syft have also recently been certified under the ISO 13485 quality system, a stringent set of business processes
specifically required for the design, manufacture and sale of instrumentation into the lucrative medical diagnostics
industry. To date, only a small handful of NZ companies have achieved this exacting quality standard.
Syft Chief Executive Geoff Peck commenting on having achieved certification said: "For a small and growing company,
having robust business practices across the company is a vital component in our journey towards FDA approval and
subsequent success in the medical sector. Our ability to reach the standards set out by ISO 13485 is testament to the
quality of our team, their research and our processes."
Further to its medical research programme, Syft has been making progress in a range of other fields. Both Canadian and
Australian Customs have endorsed the use of Voice instruments to protect Customs officers against the dangers of toxic
fumigant inhalation. Commercial installations of Syft instruments are growing on both sides of the Atlantic in the USA
and European Food Industry, creating great interest amongst some of the world’s largest food manufacturers and leading
Food Scientists.
ENDS