Revolutionary antibiotics test

Resistance to antibiotic treatments is becoming a worldwide medical and economic problem. Because an Antimicrobial Susceptibility Tests (AST) takes over 48 hours, physicians are often required to start an empiric large spectrum therapy. But a solution is just around the corner.

Portuguese start-up FASTinov, a spin-off from the University of Porto, was founded in 2013 by an experienced team of professionals in the clinical microbiology area. The FASTinov team have developed a disruptive technology that reduces the time to obtain an AST to less than 2 hours.

Impacting society

At Catalyze we are very passionate about solutions that have such an enormous impact on society. We are therefore proud that we could help FASTinov secure a Horizon 2020 Fast Track to Innovation pilot (FTI), so they can take a next step in developing their product. FAST-bact is revolutionary not only because it reduces testing time, but also because it doesn’t depend on the growth of microorganisms. FAST methodology provides the susceptibility profile in clinically useful time and clarifies the main resistance mechanism involved.

According to Sofia Costa de Oliveira, CSO and Co-Founder, the product represents enormous advantages: “With our technology, a focused treatment can start almost immediately and the likelihood of resistance decreases. Hospital costs can be also reduced because of shorter hospitalization terms.”

Cidalia Pina Vaz, CEO and co-founder adds: “After an hour we can distinguish cells that were killed by the antibiotic from the ones that are still replicating, when compared to the two days required in classical microbiology.”

Funding obtained: €2.6 million from H2020 FTI Programme

View project website