The operator presses a button to start the test and a result is delivered automatically,” said Spain.
#NOVUS SCAN PORTABLE#
“The cartridge is then inserted into our shoe-box-sized portable analyser. A standard blood sample is loaded into the SepTec disposable test cartridge, avoiding contamination and potential needle-stick injuries for healthcare workers. “Our technology avoids these problems,” she said. For patients with septic shock, there can be an 8pc increase in mortality for every hour of delay in treatment.Īccording to Spain, there are other issues with current tests for sepsis, whereby samples can be easily contaminated, leading to both false negatives and false positives. This life-threatening toxic response to infection can kill a healthy person within hours. One thing sepsis patients are critically short on, however, is time. This takes time, typically more than 12 hours and, in many cases, multiple days.” “Today, most sepsis diagnoses rely on a lab test called blood culture,” said Spain, “which involves trying to grow the pathogen from the blood so it can be identified. This team will further develop and commercialise the technology to rapidly diagnose a bloodstream infection as well as classify its causative agent, which means targeted treatment can be swiftly initiated. On the back of this investment, we have expanded our team from three to six people in the past six months and plan to grow this further, to 10 to 12, by early next year.” “We expect to close a €5m equity round towards the end of this year. “Totalling €7.4m in a blend of grant and equity financing, has enabled us to attract additional investment from private investors and Enterprise Ireland,” he said. The EIC funding really accelerated progress for Novus Diagnostics, according to O’Neill. ‘The whole process, from blood draw to result, can be completed within 15 minutes’ More than two decades of his career have been focused on the development and commercialisation of innovative healthcare products and services. O’Neill joined Novus in May, bringing with him years of experience in the life sciences industry, with roles traversing the corporate, academic and public sector worlds. O’Neill leads Novus Diagnostics as CEO, working alongside Spain as COO and Adamson as chief scientific officer. And, back in January, Novus was the only Irish company to be awarded funding in the first round from the EIC Accelerator pilot.Īnother key development in the past year has been the addition of Dr Keith O’Neill to the team. Last week, they were recognised with Science Foundation Ireland’s Commercialisation Award at a virtual ceremony celebrating leaders and innovators in Irish research. Elements of both their postdoctoral research came together to build the idea behind Novus Diagnostics, an early-stage medtech start-up with backing from the European Innovation Council (EIC).
Between them, Spain and Adamson have PhDs in physical inorganic chemistry, and diagnostics and therapeutics, respectively. They spun out as founders of Novus Diagnostics in 2020. With Enterprise Ireland now readying the 2021 Big Ideas event, Dr Elaine Spain and Dr Kellie Adamson have continued to see their star rise in the intervening years since their win. SepTec was dubbed the One to Watch at the 2018 Big Ideas showcase of science-led start-ups. Novus Diagnostics started out under the name of its flagship product SepTec, a medical device for the quick and efficient screening of sepsis. A one-year-old start-up based on six years of research, Novus Diagnostics has developed a diagnostic device for sepsis patients who don’t have time to wait.
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