Licensing opportunity
Scientists at Oxford University have invented a fast, cheap, and straightforward method to detect and identify pathogens present at even exceedingly low copy number in blood or tissue samples, enabling correct diagnosis and prompt initiation of treatment.
It is envisaged that kits with the appropriate reagents and information may be produced to allow diagnostic labs to easily follow the straightforward protocol. This technology will be of interest to companies involved in the production of bacterial or fungal diagnostic products.
In clinical microbiology diagnostic laboratories, the current gold standard method for the detection of pathogens in patients suspected of systemic infection is the culturing of blood samples to amplify the pathogen. It may take up to 5 days to amplify the pathogen to detectable levels, delaying the start of treatment. The use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify blood-borne pathogens is often technically challenging as the pathogen’s signal can be swamped by that coming from the patient’s DNA in the blood, especially if the pathogen is present at low numbers.
The new technique is a fast and highly sensitive method by which enrichment of pathogens in clinical blood samples may be achieved through specific removal of mammalian DNA and/or amplification of the pathogen, if required.
Pathogen identification by PCR is then straightforward, due to the favourable signal to noise ratio. The method is easy to perform and results may be achieved in under 8 hours, allowing treatment to begin the same day. Sensitivity is increased to as low as 0.75 CFU/ml in 4ml blood.
The work is supported by proof-of-concept data from blood samples containing typhoid Salmonella pathogens.
A patent has been applied for and Isis would like to talk to companies interested in developing the commercial opportunity.
For more information, visit the project’s page at: http://www.isis-innovation.com/licensing/4231.html
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