Press Briefing
Attomarker chosen by the Science Museum for their ‘Superbugs: the end of antibiotics’ tour of China & India
Attomarker is the UK’s leading technology contender in the global competition to win the £10 million Longitude prize. This is a race to invent a test for bacterial infections that will allow health professionals worldwide to administer the right antibiotics at the right time, reducing over-prescription and thus combating the global threat of antimicrobial resistance.
Now, Attomarker has been selected by the Science Museum to be featured in their exhibition launching in China July 4thand later India, entitled ‘Superbugs: the end of antibiotics.’
The World Health Organisation recently declared that “the rise of antimicrobial resistance is a global crisis, recognized as one of the greatest threats to health today. With few replacement products in the R&D pipeline, the world is heading towards a post-antibiotic era in which common infections will once again kill.”
Sheldon Paquin, Project Leader Antibiotics at the Science Museum explains:
“Attomarker was specifically chosen by the Science Museum because the test represents a series of innovative approaches to diagnostics. By using pre-existing technology and utilising a ‘plug and play’ methodology, it can be used outside of a clinical setting without changes to medical infrastructure. It also connects to a broader network of diagnostics, providing valuable data to track the spread of antibiotic resistance, which is so desperately necessary in an era of antibiotic scarcity.”
The Science Museum, along with the BBC and others, is a supporter of the Longitude Prize which is being run by Nesta, the UK’s innovation foundation and funded by Innovate UK. Selection for the exhibition places Attomarker as one of the top four prize contenders among 83 global entrants.
Sheldon added: “Attomarker was highlighted by Nesta as a leading team in the UK and embraced by the Science Museum as a practical tool that promises rapid and effective diagnostic tools that are direly needed worldwide. This is why Attomarker is only one of the five tests from around the world that we have chosen to feature in our exhibition.”
When asked if Attomarker would win the Longitude Prize, Associate Professor Shaw, Founder and CEO of Attomarker said:
“The prize is a significant challenge and our approach of measuring the patient’s response profile is promising. One blood test alone is unlikely to work although C-reactive protein testing at point-of-care has been shown to reduce antibiotic prescription by 25% – 36%.
Our Longitude Prize test chip will contain 6 blood tests measured in 5 minutes from a finger prick of blood and has real potential based on the scientific literature but will require a trials programme to be sure about diagnostic accuracy”.
The museum’s tour launches in Guangdong on July 4th, 2019, before moving on to Chongqing in December, then Wuhan and Zhejiang in 2020. The exhibition opens in India this coming September.
About Attomarker
Attomarker, a spin-out company from the University of Exeter, has spent the last five years developing the world’s first pocket-sized point-of-care blood-testing laboratory. Led by Associate Professor Andrew Shaw, the company’s vision is to use cloud-networked technology to help monitor, manage and combat some of the biggest health challenges of our times. Leading with the fight against antimicrobial resistance.
Attomarker is planning a range of tests which will initially comprise C-reactive protein, food allergy and pregnancy, available through pharmacists as well as surgeries and clinics. Future tests will include liver function to help patients avoid the onset of type-2 diabetes and fatty liver disease, TB/HIV, sepsis, hepatitis and immunotherapy cohort surveillance.
Attomarker’s technology contains highly sensitive illuminated gold nanoparticles that change brightness when blood passes over the sensor surface and as the test develops. An array of 150 elements can be functionalised with 10 tests.
The changes are videoed by the iPhone which then processes the image and gives the results for all current tests in 5 minutes.
The iPhone allows the technology to be used anywhere in the world, in remote communities or in the developed world, allowing untrained users, maybe consumers, to take blood tests, get results and have a teleconsultation to help with interpretation.
References
Cooke et al.Narrative review of primary care point-of-care testing (POCT) and antibacterial use in respiratory tract infection (RTI).http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjresp-2015-000086
More information at www.attomarker.com
More information about the Science Museum exhibition in China & India at:
Categories: News