The emergence of many multi-resistant bacteria threatens modern medicine in developed countries where surgeries and anti-cancer treatments depend on the effectiveness of antibiotics. Globally, in the absence of a change in practices, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that multi-resistant bacteria (MRB) infections could be responsible for 10 million deaths per year in 2050.
To respond to this threat, WHO recommends prevention, the search for new antibiotics and the development of diagnostic tools for better management of the arsenal of available antibiotics.
Bacteremia and sepsis are among the pathologies whose mortality rate is most aggravated by the emergence of MRB strains. In fact, the vital prognosis of the patient in sepsis depends on the success of the antibiotic treatment in the first 24 hours. Unfortunately, today, the antibiotic sensitivities of an infectious agent are determined more than 48 hours after blood collection. With the increase in MRB cases, it is increasingly difficult to prescribe the right antibiotic to the patient without the results of the antibiogram.
MilliDrop is an ambitious French innovative spin-off from the ESPCI Paris School. The company developed over the past 3 years a disruptive Microbiology analysis instrument with highly increased throughput and reduced tests volumes (~100nL).
The goal of the H2020 SME Instrument Phase 1 project is to assess the technical feasibility, business opportunities and regulatory pathways of an In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) solution which would integrate all the laboratory workflow in a single automated instrument to deliver the result 30h earlier than the current methods.
