Total antibiotics consumption worldwide is at astoundingly ~70 billion standard units annually (CDDEP, 2015). It is estimated that up to 50% of total antibiotic use is inappropriate (Cizman, 2003) meaning that at best their use is unnecessary but may be even harmful. Tremendous amounts of money and resources are wasted. Overuse of antibiotics leads to increase in drug-resistant bacteria and dramatically reduces the effectiveness of the therapies currently available. As a result, infections last much longer, more visits to the doctor or even hospital stays are sometimes required. In extreme cases, incurable infections lead to death.
Current diagnostics in the field relies heavily on empirical examination and if necessary a follow-up with lab tests. It is costly and takes up to a few days. To help radically address the antibiotics crisis, disruptive technologies for rapid and effective diagnostics at point of care are required.
IMMUNAS, our venture, aims to be a substantial solution to this global problem. Unlike traditional procedures that take hours to days to complete, our cutting edge chip-based technology, within minutes, will be able to accurately determine whether the cause of infection is bacterial or viral. Together with cost-effectiveness, ease-of-use, minimal invasiveness for the patient and immense potential impact on pressing public heath concerns, we genuinely hope to enable smart and responsible use of antibiotics for benefits of patients and for societies at large.