UK Research and Innovation recognize the important work of AgPlus Diagnostics in the fight against antibiotic resistance.
With the support of UKRI and the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund, here at AgPlus Diagnostics we are thrilled to have developed a 15-minute test that can distinguish between viral and bacterial infections.
This ability for point of care testing will help doctors to prescribe antibiotics only to the patients that need them and not unnecessarily to patients with viral infections that will not respond to the antibiotics.
This achievement would not have been possible without the dedication and expertise of our fantastic team at AgPlus who have continued working under the additional pressure that the Covid restrictions have placed upon us all.
“The Team at AgPlus are continuing to work hard and deliver in exceptional circumstances, I am very proud of all their dedication. They are passionate about their work and the impact it will have on people’s lives.”
Fiona Marshall CEO
“Every project I have been fortunate enough to be apart of at AgPlus has been fascinating but this project has been of particular interest and importance. Its very exciting to be able to work on a project that could have such a huge impact downstream, improving healthcare on a individual basis and globally in the fight against AMR.”
Stacey Casswell Senior R&D Scientist
Why is this important?
Diseases can become drug-resistant when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites evolve and stop responding to medicines like antibiotics; this is known as Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
The populations growing resistance to antibiotics is fast becoming a major global health challenge and over-prescription of antibiotics is recognized as one of the major causes of AMR. The work our team has done on developing a test to differentiate between viral and bacterial infections truly has worldwide implications in the fight against antibiotic resistance.
“It was clear from the O’Neil report in 2016 that AMR would have a significant impact worldwide on healthcare systems, financial systems and population deaths. Look at the impact COVID is having on all aspects of our lives. AgPlus is committed to finding solutions to worldwide problems like this and our Agilis™ Point of care platform has been designed to have a significant impact. The team at AgPlus are proud to be able to work on lifechanging solutions.”
“With our successful test development, we hope to have played an important part in the fight against AMR and are proud to be part of leading the way for the UK. “
Fiona Marshall CEO
This week we are delighted to have been recognised for our work in this area on the UKRI website here.
A wider problem
Unfortunately, AMR is not just down to over-prescription of antibiotics by doctors. The problem is far broader and as UKRI explain in their article UK research key in fight against antibiotic resistance spread their work involves working with researchers, doctors, farmers, vets and social scientists to tackle it.
Although the mechanisms that lead to the development of AMR are biological, the conditions that promote it are profoundly man-made. This means that to tackle the global health issue and for the long-term improvement of AMR there are still a lot of changes to be made in all sectors.
Contract Development at AgPlus Diagnostics
We have proven experience of working with organisations using chosen biomarkers to develop fully quantitative diagnostic tests. With the addition of our Agilis Reader, we can now take this a stage further and provide a fully connected diagnostic solution for our customers.
If you would like to know more then please get in touch.