Based on the survey results, especially those obtained from Singapore, we found that the participants are generally receptive to bacteria cancer diagnosis and therapy. Hence, to better set up for a potential release of our tool in the field, we proposed to tackle the issues of environment, safety and sustainability via the drafting of a business plan. By integrating the marketing of the RIOT System with manufacturing and financial legislations, we aim to reduce the cost of production of such a tool and the safety-related stigma attached with a new, unknown medical procedure. Every aspect of the RIOT System is meticulously examined in the business plan to ascertain the best possible ways to market, manufacture and measure its retail value whilst still ensuring that it is done in the most safe and sustainable manner possible.

NUS_Singapore is a group of undergraduates from the National University of Singapore (NUS), with a product under development in novel biological diagnostic for cancer. The group use synthetic biological technology to create the Regulated Invasive Organism Targeting System (RIOTsystem) which consists of four parts: The RIOT_sensor, RIOT_responder and the RIOT_invader. Taken together, this system employs a modular concept of integrating different genetic circuits that serve individual functions with crosstalk capability.

In cancer treatment, specificity and reliability of diagnosis is the gold criteria of any diagnostic method. The RIOTsystem employs a novel method of cancer detection, relying on spatial markers that are intrinsic to the tumour microenvironment. Two spatial markers are used to increase specificity and ensure that only cancer cells are targeted. One spatial marker would be the elevated concentration of lactate usually found around tumours due to the Warburg effect. The other marker would be the detection of CD44v6, a cell surface marker that is upregulated on a variety of cancers. The spatial markers were specially chosen to circumvent a common problem in cancer research, where heterogeneity in different types of cancers results in the lack of a specific diagnostic for a variety of cancers. As elevated lactate concentration is ubiquitous among solid tumours and CD44v6 is present in different types of cancers, RIOTsystem has the potential to be a diagnostic that can be applied to multiple cancers, which is advantageous in the current market where broad spectrum diagnostics for cancer are currently lacking. Furthermore, the utility of RIOTsystem can extend beyond just being a diagnostic and can be modified to deliver a drug payload, potentially acting as both a diagnostic and therapeutic.

Based on our survey of the diagnostics industry, the RIOTSystem also stands out as there is currently no similar product available. Current cancer diagnostics rely mainly on in vitro tests where cancer biomarkers that are present in the blood are detected or the use of machines in physical examinations to detect the tumour (eg mammograms and biopsy). The RIOTSystem offers a radically different diagnostic tool that is sets itself apart from the current diagnostics.

To fund our operations, NUS_Singapore has received a start-up budget from the National University of Singapore Faculty of Science Dean’s Office and will be supplementing additional costs with applications to a range of grants that support start-ups such as the ACE Startups grant offered by SPRING Singapore. Each use of RIOTSystem as a diagnostic is projected to be sold at SGD$100, a competitive price as compared to other diagnostic kits and tests currently offered in Singapore for cancer detection as those are in the range of SGD$50-$1000. Furthermore, we have made a modest estimate of 3000 units sold within the first year of establishment based on the receptiveness of the participants of our preliminary survey. This will give us a net projected income of $181,711.26 before tax and the provision of salary. This figure is projected to rise in subsequent years because the RIOTsystem is upscalable at lower cost and some of the fixed costs incurred are one-off payments, such as registration fees for the company.

TBA