Novus Diagnostics gets €2.4m grant for rapid sepsis test

Irish company Novus Diagnostics has been awarded €2.4 million in funding to commercialise its rapid sepsis test.

The only Irish company to be awarded funding from this round of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator pilot, DCU-based Novus Diagnostics has been working in collaboration with two Dublin hospitals on validating the SepTec diagnostic device.

The test aims to prevent millions of deaths each year from sepsis. According to data provided by the company, 49 million patients are diagnosed annually with sepsis and 11 million of them die; 80 per cent of these deaths could be prevented with rapid diagnosis and treatment.

The SepTec diagnostic device screens blood for sepsis associated blood-stream infection, detecting and identifying pathogens within 15 minutes.

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“SepTec’s unique advantage is that, for the first time ever, blood-stream infection diagnosis is driven directly to the point of care at the bedside where it is needed,” said Dr Elaine Spain, co founder of Novus Diagnostics.

“Preliminary health economics studies suggest SepTec’s rapid blood test could result in a 50 per cent reduction in mortality rate, 25 times fewer patients receiving unnecessary antibiotics and a healthcare saving between €17 million and €40 million per five million population.”

Novus Diagnostics was also awarded blended financing through significant additional equity financing from the EIC Accelerator, which targets breakthrough technologies and innovations.

"This award builds on our long-standing support from Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland at DCU," said co-founder Dr Kellie Adamson. "The EIC is greatly welcomed as it will enable us to industrialise the SepTec product and achieve our mission of saving millions of lives through early diagnosis and treatment of life-threatening illnesses not only in Ireland and Europe but across the globe."