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Innovation cash for cancer screening
12/05/2009
Hi-tech businesses, including a firm which is developing testing equipment for prostate cancer, are to receive almost £3 million from the Scottish Government's SMART:SCOTLAND awards programme.
Twenty-eight projects were offered support from the scheme in the last six months, including Aberdeen-based Cytosystems, which is to receive a £68,217 grant to help develop its new screening system to detect cancer.
Announcing the awards, Enterprise Minister Jim Mather said:
"This funding demonstrates the Scottish Government's commitment to help enterprising firms weather the challenging conditions they currently face and position the Scottish economy for a strong recovery.
"Projects supported by the SMART programme, including Cytosystem's testing equipment to detect prostate cancer, show the range of technological expertise we have here in Scotland.
"It is vital that we harness these talents by making Scotland a more attractive place to do business - something which is especially important in the current economic climate, as we build on our economic recovery programme."
Dr David Galloway, Clinical and Scientific Director at Cytosystems, said:
"By the nature of our business, technical innovation is a key component of everything we do at Cytosystems.
"Recognition by the Scottish Government that one of our important concepts warranted receiving a SMART award provided us with the added confidence that we could successfully develop a medical device to support our core technology."
SMART:SCOTLAND provides grant assistance to support feasibility studies and research and development projects to develop a pre-production prototype of a new product or process.