Early diagnosis remains one of the greatest challenges in treating serious respiratory diseases, particularly lung cancer, where symptoms often appear only after the disease has progressed. Conventional diagnostic methods frequently rely on invasive tissue biopsies or complex imaging procedures that can delay treatment decisions and place additional burdens on patients. Advances in molecular diagnostics are opening new possibilities for detecting disease using less invasive approaches, with researchers increasingly exploring biological signals found in everyday bodily samples. UK health technology startup Respiro Diagnostics is developing a platform that uses exhaled breath as a source of valuable clinical information, and the company has now secured fresh funding to accelerate its research and clinical development.
Respiro Diagnostics has raised £1 million in a pre seed funding round led by Zinc Venture Capital and SFC Capital, with participation from Amadeus Capital Partners, the Conception X Angel Syndicate, KQ Labs through the Francis Crick Institute, strategic angel investors, and Innovate UK.
The investment will support clinical studies and continued development of the company’s diagnostic platform.
Developing a New Approach to Lung Diagnostics
Founded by Alison Quinn and Dr Theo Issitt, Respiro Diagnostics is developing a non invasive liquid biopsy platform designed to detect lung diseases through a simple breath sample.
Rather than relying on tissue extraction or blood testing, the company’s technology captures biological material naturally released during exhalation.
The platform combines a proprietary breath collection device with advanced laboratory analysis capable of examining DNA, RNA, and proteins present within each sample.
By analysing these biomarkers, the company aims to generate clinically valuable insights while significantly reducing the need for invasive diagnostic procedures.
Turning Breath Into Clinical Information
Respiro’s technology focuses on collecting molecular information directly from the respiratory system.
Unlike conventional tissue biopsies that require surgical or needle based procedures, breath collection is entirely non invasive and can be performed quickly with minimal discomfort for patients.
Once collected, samples undergo laboratory analysis to identify molecular signals associated with disease.
The company believes this approach has the potential to support earlier diagnosis while providing clinicians with additional information that may assist treatment planning and disease monitoring.
The platform has been designed to integrate multiple biomarker types within a single diagnostic workflow.
Initial Clinical Progress
Respiro Diagnostics has already completed initial proof of concept testing involving patients with mesothelioma.
Building on these early results, the company plans to begin its first clinical study involving lung cancer patients at Aalborg University Hospital in Denmark during September 2026.
The study will provide further evidence supporting the clinical performance of the platform while helping refine future product development.
Beyond lung cancer, the company is also exploring applications for other respiratory diseases including pulmonary hypertension and asthma.
These additional research programmes could significantly broaden the long term clinical value of the technology.
Supporting Earlier Detection
The company believes earlier identification of lung disease could improve treatment outcomes by enabling clinicians to intervene before conditions become more advanced.
A simple breath based diagnostic platform could also improve patient access to testing by making sample collection faster, safer, and more convenient.
As healthcare systems increasingly seek minimally invasive diagnostic solutions, technologies capable of detecting disease through routine biological samples continue attracting significant attention.
Advancing Clinical Validation
The newly secured funding will support ongoing clinical research together with further development of Respiro’s proprietary breath collection device and laboratory platform.
The company aims to continue generating clinical evidence as it progresses towards broader validation and future healthcare adoption.
As precision medicine increasingly focuses on earlier disease detection and personalised treatment, non invasive diagnostic technologies are expected to play an increasingly important role. By transforming exhaled breath into a source of clinically meaningful molecular information, Respiro Diagnostics aims to improve how respiratory diseases are detected, monitored, and managed while making advanced diagnostics more accessible for patients worldwide.
