Novel host response protein signature technology can rapidly distinguish between bacterial and viral infections to speed treatment decisions and combat the growing threat of Antimicrobial Resistance.
The MeMed Key diagnostic tool recently received full FDA licensure after four years of research, development, and investments by Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) Chemical and Biological Technologies Department in its role as the Joint Science and Technology Office (JSTO) for the Chemical and Biological Defense Program.
Each year in the United States, about three million Americans fall ill to antibiotic-resistant infections, and 35,000 die from those illnesses. To definitively answer whether an infection is bacterial versus viral, DTRA-JSTO has been investing in the MeMed Key program efforts.
Utilizing MeMed Key, patients will be able to visit their local health clinics and – in as little as 15 minutes with blood from a finger prick – be able to identify whether their symptoms are due to an active bacterial or viral infection.
MeMed Key is a first of its kind immunoassay platform, that opens the way to measuring multiple proteins with central lab performance at the point-of-need.
“This new technology will better position us to identify emerging threats and reduce the use of unnecessary medical countermeasures such as antibiotics,” said Richard Schoske, Ph.D., chief for DTRA-JSTO’s Diagnostics and Detection efforts.
DTRA-JSTO invested $9.2 million in 2017 to fund the completion of MeMed’s pioneering point of care platform for distinguishing bacterial from viral infections. In 2018, the DOD’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) awarded the company an additional $4.1 million to support transition of the company’s prototype ImmunoPoC point-of-care (POC) blood-testing platform toward a final product, including transfer to manufacturing and implementation of cloud connectivity.
