Developing rapid tests for antibiotic susceptibility in urine and bacterial samples
Laboratory tests can take days to identify effective antibiotics for an infection. Patients may receive ineffective treatment while awaiting results, and manual testing burdens laboratory staff. Misuse and overuse of antibiotics drive antimicrobial resistance.
Astratus is developing a cartridge-and-reader system that tests antibiotic susceptibility directly from urine or bacterial isolates. It targets human, veterinary and research laboratories, with same-day results and less manual handling.
What stands out about Astratus
Urine-sample testing showed 96.95% agreement with broth microdilution across 590 single-organism antibiotic/sample comparisons.
Henley Business Angels members invested as part of a £385,000 funding round to advance development and commercialisation.
Spun out from the University of Reading to commercialise rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing technology.
The founding microcapillary testing project received NIHR i4i Product Development Award support under NIHR203362.
Co-founder and CSO Sarah Needs brings more than a decade of biochemical R&D and novel diagnostic assay validation experience.
Alexander Edwards co-founded Capillary Film Technology, a startup commercialising microfluidic diagnostic testing.
Astratus joined the vHive animal-health incubator, backed by the University of Surrey and Zoetis.
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