Descripción del proyecto
Una nueva plataforma de diagnóstico para identificar la tuberculosis farmacorresistente
Se estima que la tuberculosis infecta a un 25 % de la población mundial y que acabó con la vida de un total de 30 millones de personas desde 2000 a 2015, principalmente en países en desarrollo. La tuberculosis farmacorresistente va en aumento con una cifra anual estimada de nuevos casos de medio millón. Es urgente encontrar herramientas de diagnóstico eficaces, sencillas y de bajo coste para la detección de las cepas multirresistentes, especialmente para poder llevar a cabo análisis de diagnóstico inmediato en los países en desarrollo. El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos mfloDx apoya el desarrollo de una plataforma de diagnóstico de bajo coste que identifica eficazmente los casos farmacorresistentes. Las pruebas piloto del primer modelo mostraron una eficacia y especificad cercanas al 92-96 %. Se prevé que el modelo de próxima generación tendrá una especificidad cercana al 100 % y que podría obtener los resultados en unas dos horas, de forma que reduciría el sufrimiento de los pacientes y evitaría la propagación de las bacterias.
Objetivo
Tuberculosis (TB) killed 33 million people worldwide in 2000-2015 and infects an estimated ¼ of the world population. Drug-resistant forms of TB are flourishing at an alarming rate due to faulty diagnosis and widespread prescription of incorrect antibiotics. Rapid and accurate detection of multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains is urgently needed to effectively treat patients and prevent spreading of untreatable TB forms. Simple, low cost diagnostic tools are needed to enable point-of-care testing in low- and mid-income countries.
mfloDx is a low-cost, simple diagnostic platform that can identify close to 100% of drug resistant TB cases. Pilot tests of the first product, miniMDR-TB, showed the efficiency and specificity to be 92-96% in agreement with that of another molecular test recommended by the World Health Organization. Our next-generation mfloDx products, MDR-TB and MDR-TBplus, are expected to have close to 100% MDR-TB identification power. The low cost of mfloDx tests will enable market uptake in highly afflicted developing countries, and thereby help to stop the loss of life, the spread of antibiotic-resistant infections, and prevent unnecessary costs.
Projected global expenditure on diagnosis and treatment of TB will reach €983 billion between 2015-2030. The addressable market for TB diagnostics is projected to grow to €3.1 billion by 2024. Available commercial diagnostics for MDR-TB often deliver incomplete diagnoses and require long lag times, costly equipment (€15-32K), and highly trained personnel to recommend prescriptions. As a result, less than one-third of new TB patients undergo testing to determine appropriate antibiotic treatments. Our estimates suggest that mfloDx would reduce the treatment costs per MDR-TB patient by tens of thousands of euros and diagnosis time from about six months to two hours. This would avoid costly and inappropriate antibiotic regimens, reduce patient suffering, and curtail the spread of drug-resistant bacteria.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologybacteriology
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicinepneumologytuberculosis
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsantibiotics
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacydrug resistancemultidrug resistance
Programa(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaConvocatoria de subcontratación
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1
Régimen de financiación
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinador
171 65 Stockholm
Suecia
Organización definida por ella misma como pequeña y mediana empresa (pyme) en el momento de la firma del acuerdo de subvención.