Every minute counts when it comes to blood poisoning – which is why rapidfire diagnostics play an important role in helping patients get the right treatment they need.
Massachusetts startup Advandx is developing a series of diagnostic assays to quickly determine the strain of yeast or bacteria that’s caused septicemia and other infections. The company just raised $2.5 million from two investors, according to a regulatory filing. A year ago, it raised $12 million in a Series B-1 round, led by Merck Global Health Innovation Fund. Other investors are SLS Invest AB and LD Pensions.
The company uses peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes, which structurally mimic DNA molecules. The difference is that while DNA and RNA have negatively charged sugar-phosphate backbones, PNA’s got a non-charged peptide backbone – allowing it to rapidly bind with high specificity to nucleic acid targets.
So when it comes to detecting bacterial and yeast pathogens, these PNA probes attach more readily to sequences that are specific to the strain. It
The company’s QuickFish and PNA Fish use fluorescent PNA probes to target species-specific rRNA sequences. Cells don’t have to be lysed to isolate the genetic material – so the quick-turnaround results match Gram-stain morphology, AdvanDx says. It recently received FDA clearance for an assay that detects MRSA and other Staph infections. Its diagnostics can detect a range of pathogens quickly – times vary from 20 minutes to 90 minutes, depending on the test.
