Presymptom Health secures £200K for fast infection detection technology

UK medtech Presymptom Health has secured £200,000 in additional grant funding to speed up its AI-driven infection detection technology, cutting test times to just 40-60 minutes. 

Presymptom Health was established to exploit IP developed by scientists working at the UK Defence Science & Technologies Laboratory (Dstl), initially researching how to tackle biological threat infection, such as anthrax, plague and Ebola.

Presymptom’s InfectiClear technology can detect infection up to three days earlier than current methods by analysing the body’s RNA-based response, rather than searching for the pathogen itself. 

Trained and validated on 15 years’ worth of patient data, the AI-driven test ensures that doctors can correctly detect the presence, or lack, of infection, at the earliest possible opportunity. 

This approach provides an early, highly sensitive signal for infection or sepsis and avoids the delays and inaccuracies often seen with traditional tests, which can lead to unnecessary or incorrect treatments.

According to Dr Iain Miller, CEO of Presymptom Health, identifying infections quickly and accurately is critical – not just for saving lives, but for ensuring antibiotics are only used when absolutely necessary. 

“The NHS (and most hospitals around the world) relies on a variety of PCR platforms from different manufacturers, which can make rolling out new diagnostic tests a challenge. 

By ensuring our technology is broadly compatible across multiple platforms, we’re making it easier for hospitals to adopt faster, more accurate infection detection. Whether tests are run at the point of care by nurses or in labs by technicians, this flexibility means better diagnoses for all patients. Ultimately, this will improve patient outcomes while also helping the fight against antimicrobial resistance."

The funds come from two sources:

• £100K in funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Grant will enable Presymptom to make its technology compatible with the PCR platform manufactured by QuantuMDx. The QuantuMDx platform can deliver results in 40 minutes and tests will be available at the point of care.

• £100K from the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Healthcare Grant will help Presymptom Health make its technology compatible with the Mic PCR platform manufactured by Bio Molecular Systems (BMS), which is widely used across the NHS. Tests run on the BMS platforms can potentially deliver results in under one hour when undertaken in the lab.

This new funding will also help ensure that the NHS can make best use of existing PCR machines, many of which have been underutilised since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of the SBRI grant, Presymptom will run a six-month feasibility project alongside Health Innovation Oxford and Thames Valley (HIOTV), to understand barriers to entry and the best approach for the NHS adopting this new technology.

Presymptom Health’s InfectiClear technology has shown great promise in recent clinical trials, with early results showing that the product may have more than 95 per cent accuracy at ruling out lower respiratory tract infection, a significant improvement over the standard of care. The full results will be made available later this year.

Lead image: Presymptom Health. Photo: uncredited.