Mobidiag Ltd., a Finnish molecular diagnostics company, announced today that it has initiated the development of a sepsis assay on the new Novodiag® system. Business Finland (formerly Tekes) has granted a €1.5 million loan for the first project year. By combining in-house expertise and unique patented technologies, Mobidiag has now the means to develop a revolutionary assay to detect sepsis causing microbes and antibiotic resistances directly from blood.
Sepsis, a serious complication of infection, is a major global health concern affecting more than 30 million people worldwide every year and potentially leading to 6 million deaths yearly1 if not detected and treated at the earliest. There is currently a critical need for more reliable and faster diagnostics to detect septic shock as early as possible to ensure better patient care and safety.
“Since its inception, Mobidiag has been involved in the diagnosis of sepsis. Our historic product Prove-it Sepsis detected about 80 targets simultaneously in a couple of hours from blood culture. With our new Novodiag system allowing syndromic approach [diagnostics based on symptoms] directly from patient sample, we are now able to bring even faster, simpler and more reliable tests for applications where time to result is critical. Business Finland has already been strongly supporting us in the past and we are very happy to see that they are still accompanying us in our long-term success”, says Tuomas Tenkanen, CEO of Mobidiag. ”Combining this with the successful financing round announced last week [see press release], Mobidiag is in a very nice position to continue its mission to fight against infectious diseases and the spread of antibiotic resistances” he continues.
“One of the national growth policy priorities is to accelerate growth in the health sector and health technology has been one of the fastest growing high-tech export sectors in Finland. Our strategic goal is to support global growth of the companies and this new funding will allow Mobidiag to develop a sepsis disposable cartridge for its new Novodiag system and support the export of Finnish high-tech diagnostic products”, says Raimo Pakkanen, Chief Advisor of Business Finland.
See full press release in English.
