EDX Medical is working with clinical and academic partners to provide an advanced test for early, definitive detection of respiratory infections and pneumonia in critically ill patients.
The new test will deliver the most accurate identification of the sources of respiratory infections in the critically ill, enabling rapid selection of the most effective treatment for individual patients and support positive antibiotic custodianship. The test will feature:
- A unique, large panel covering the widest range of respiratory infections – bacteria, viruses, mycoplasma etc in a single test.
- Rapid and highly accurate, direct analysis from lung lavage samples at the point of infection, without any microbial culture delays.
- Valuable treatment guidance for healthcare professionals for hospitalised patients in intensive care
Hospital acquired infections (HAI) remain a significant source of life-threatening disease, requiring accurate and rapid diagnosis coupled with correct treatment. Hospital Acquired Pneumonia (HAP) is one of such major infections, costing the NHS an estimated £1.5 billion per year and taking almost 1 million bed days from service.
EDX Medical has licensed the intellectual property and clinical research for the new assay developed by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), Cambridge University and UKHSA from Cambridge Enterprise. EDX will undertake further development work and validation before supplying the new test to Addenbrooke’s Hospital and other UK hospitals in due course.
Currently completing validation in the EDX Medical laboratories in Cambridge, the new test is expected to be shortly available for use in the CUH Intensive Care Unit with critically ill patients under a multi-year partnership service agreement with EDX Medical.
EDX Medical will, under an existing collaboration with global life sciences company, Thermo Fisher Scientific, also develop and validate a kit version of the test that can then be provided to other hospital and laboratories in the UK and Europe, subject to regulatory approval.
