Southern Lower Saxony Sets New Standards in Rapid Test Diagnostics
Göttingen, August 26, 2025 – With a high-profile closing conference at the Institute for Nanophotonics Göttingen (IFNANO), the federally funded project “Southern Lower Saxony Point-of-Care Cluster” (SNiPoCC) successfully concluded on Tuesday. Over the past three years, a regional alliance of science and industry has been working to develop innovative, highly sensitive, and sustainable rapid testing methods that significantly surpass existing diagnostic solutions in terms of functionality and performance. Fields of application range from human and veterinary medicine to forensics, as well as environmental and hazardous substance analysis.
The network comprised twelve partners – including small and medium-sized enterprises, the University of Göttingen, and the international life sciences company Sartorius. The project was coordinated by nal von minden GmbH, one of Europe’s leading developers of rapid tests for human and veterinary medicine. Its objective was to bridge the gap between fundamental research, applied development, and concrete market needs.
During the final event, participating partners presented their results and engaged in discussions with experts from both academia and industry. IFNANO showcased novel photonic readout technologies, including a fluorescence-based method enabling the simultaneous evaluation of multiple fluorophores. Thi
s innovation allows reliable differentiation of various disease markers – such as for the common cold, influenza, or COVID-19 – as well as substances like cocaine, heroin, or amphetamines on a single test strip.
Another highlight was the collaboration between IFNANO and miprolab GmbH: Together they developed a lateral flow test for the quantitative measurement of cortisol, based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. With the aid of a specially designed Raman probe, the signal-to-noise ratio in lateral flow tests was significantly improved – a milestone for more precise and versatile rapid testing methods.
With the successful completion of SNiPoCC, Southern Lower Saxony has further strengthened its position as an innovation hub in point-of-care diagnostics, laying the foundation for future developments in international competition.
