Out-licensing

Development of a Novel Method for the Rapid Testing of Antimicrobial Susceptibility: Screening Antibiotics in a Few Hours

Introduction/Background

In recent years, the emergence of strains of drug-resistant bacteria has become a major health problem in many parts of the world. This has made it vitally necessary both to develop new antibacterial drugs and establish effective strategies to combat invading bacteria. Presently, to treat patients afflicted with severe microbial infections, a random guessed broad spectrum antibiotics often fails to yield satisfactory results. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing is often used to determine the right antimicrobial agents. It takes two to three days to complete the test, either by dilution method or by diffusion method. For frail or immuno-suppressed patients already in the process of developing septic shock, finding the right antibiotics in time is critical, because many of the patients could not survive the three-day period required by conventional antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

Aims/Hypothesis

New, improved methods for antimicrobial susceptibility testing are required.

Research

This invention is an integrated system that performs fast antimicrobial susceptibility test to screen antibiotics in a few hours instead of days by conventional methods. This novel screening system will save lives of bacteraemia patients who are in critical care by timely identifying the correct antibiotics to fight pathogens. By eradicating pathogens in time, it will even improve the odds of septicaemia patients to recover from the septic shock, particularly when sepsis drugs are yet to be discovered. This system can also identify susceptible antibiotics to treat mycobacterial infection in a few days instead of the usual six to eight weeks. The concepts, methodologies, and devices to achieve fast antimicrobial susceptibility testing are identified in this invention. Fast screening of antibiotics is achieved by a short period of specimen incubation in different antibiotics embedded media to create differential bacterial counts. The differences of bacterial counts among antibiotics embedded media are subsequently amplified by DNA amplification methods for detection. Following DNA amplification, rapid quantification and minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) determinations for a panel of antibiotics are achieved in less than one minute by fluorescence quantification methods described in this invention.

Conclusion

The present invention discloses a method for rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing to screen antibiotics in a few hours instead of days by conventional methods.

Relevance/Opportunity

The method allows rapid anti-microbial susceptibility testing for bacteria of indigenous flora, mycobacteria, fungi, and other bacterial pathogens. The technology can be applied in clinical diagnostics labs for critically ill patients who require immediate action in identifying effective antimicrobial agents. Please enquire below quoting reference no. 12A-850802 if you are interested in forming licensing or codevelopment partnerships.

Preclinical

TW133098; US5789173; EP822261;