Three Nova Scotia life sciences companies have received a total of $1.2 million in R&D funding as part of a joint program between National Research Council’s IRAP and its British counterpart.

IRAP – whose full name is Industrial Research Assistance Program – announced Thursday that seven Canadian companies would receive a total of $2.9 million in funding. They include Halifax’s Sona Nanotech, Dartmouth’s Mara Renewables Corp. and Bedford-based Innovasea Marine Systems.

The projects are part of a collaborative effort between IRAP and UK Research and Innovation – a British government agency that is similar to the NRC. The initiative is the result of “memorandums of understanding” signed by the Canadian and British governments in 2017, and the NRC and UK Research and Innovation in 2018, agreeing to work together on R&D projects.

“The successful projects are focussed on improving productivity and sustainability in the agricultural industry, including crop, livestock, and/or aquaculture systems using precision and data-driven solutions,” said the NRC in a press release.

Sona will receive $457,830 to pay for a joint project with a U.K. consortium aimed at developing a rapid test for bovine tuberculosis. The test will be based on research from Aberystwyth University in Wales.

Mara Renewables, which develops oils and nutrient-supplements made from algae, will receive $376,247 for a joint project with Belfast-based Devenish Nutrition to create new, algae-derived products for use in poultry farming.

And Innovasea, which makes equipment and software for monitoring fish populations at aquaculture facilities, will receive $338,121 to work with Portsmouth’s RS Aqua to develop an early-warning system for algae blooms.

Sona Nanotech grew out of nanotechnology research at St. Francis Xavier University, setting out to produce gold nanorods that could be used in medical tests. In adapting the technology for COVID-19 tests, the company and several partners last year received a $4.1 million development grant from NGen, Canada's advanced manufacturing supercluster.

Sona made headlines last year after its work on a COVID-19 rapid test made it a darling of the Canadian Securities Exchange and saw its stock rally about 1,000 percent. But the stock has since reversed most of those gains. At least two American law firms announced in January that they had filed class action lawsuits against the company, alleging that it misled shareholders. Sona has denied the claim and said it will fight the suit.

Innovasea is collaborating with a handful of other oceantech companies on a $27 million Ocean Supercluster project that will help improve the aquaculture industry through data analytics and increased connectivity. The initiative’s goal is to collect and analyze data on aquaculture facilities and establish connections between land and sea-based aquaculture facilities and processing plants.

And Mara Renewables is also participating in an Ocean Supercluster project to develop an algal nutritional oil that mimics and complements the health benefits of fish oil consumption.