PRESENTATION
Antimicrobial resistance has a high impact on public health and the economy. Every year, 700 000 people die worldwide because of infections caused by multidrug-resistant pathogens, and the costs for the treatment of these infections is estimated at €1.5 billion annually, in Europe alone. The BL-DetecTool is a promising innovation aimed at detecting drug resistant bacteria by identifying broad-spectrum β-lactamases (called ESBL and carbapenemases), directly from the patient's sample.
The system developed by BL-DetectTool uses a testing strip and a device that can be produced by 3D printer to detect the presence of drug resistant bacteria. This simple user-friendly innovation gives hospitals a powerful weapon in the fight against antimicrobial resistance, one of the greatest threats to public health that we face today.This project involves: three hospitals, ISGlobal (Spain); APHP (France); Semmelweis University (Hungary), which validate the BL-DetecTool and optimise operating procedures, one research coordinating organization, CEA (France), which designed and produces the BL-DetecTool, one business school, IESE (Spain), which establishes the business plan, one company, NG Biotech (France), which is involved in the production of the BL-DetecTool, and will market it when it is made commercially available.
Rapid detection and identification of β-lactamases-producing bacteria is essential to prevent further spread of these dangerous bacteria and to provide appropriate antimicrobial therapy. BL-DectecTool seeks to optimise and validate a new detection system that is the first to allow fast, affordable, user-friendly and direct detection of β-lactamases in clinical samples. The innovation consists of a β-lactamases detection strip, which is enclosed in a plastic device. The device, produced by 3D printing, carries out the sample treatment. It is smaller and more portable than current detection procedures, and it provides results much more quickly – in 30 minutes instead of 16 hours or more – and more affordably.
Through this project, the devices will be optimised and validated with real clinical samples. The operational procedures will be improved to fit with clinical habits and analytical specifications (sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility). At the end of the project, a business concept will be established and training tools for end-users will be provided to accelerate the industrial transfer and its implementation in care facilities. EIT Health funding of this project boosts the development, validation and launch to the market of this badly needed rapid diagnostic tool.
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Project duration
1 year
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Subvention
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Number of partners
6
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Starting date January 01, 2018
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coordination : CEA
CONTACT : Hervé Volland (herve.volland@cea.fr)
website
https://bldetectool.com/
About EIT Health EIT Health was established in 2015, as a 'knowledge and innovation community' (KIC) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). The EIT is made up of various KICs who each focus on a different sector, or area, of innovation – in our case, that is health and aging. The idea behind the EIT KICs is that innovation flourishes best when the right people are brought together to share expertise. The so called 'knowledge triangle', is the principle that when experts from business, research and education work together as one, an optimal environment for innovation is created.
https://eithealth.eu/