Beckman Coulter and MeMed to expand access to host immune response diagnostic to distinguish between bacterial and viral infections
Beckman Coulter Diagnostics, a global leader in clinical diagnostics, and MeMed, a leader in the emerging field of advanced host-response technologies, have established a strategic partnership to jointly develop and commercialize the MeMed BV test, a host immune response diagnostic that is able to distinguish between bacterial and viral infections for use on the Access Family of Immunoassay Analysers.
Symptoms of bacterial and viral infections are often clinically indistinguishable, which creates challenges for physicians deciding whether to start treating patients with antibiotics or not. Unfortunately, this ambiguity can result in the underuse and overuse of antibiotics. Studies have shown that underuse of antibiotics for patients with a bacterial infection can reach 20%. While overuse of antibiotics contributes to antimicrobial resistance, which is one of the top 10 global public health threats according to the World Health Organization. Today, antibiotic-resistant infections account for more than 700,000 deaths globally with the potential to increase to 10 million deaths by the year 2050. The development of new antibiotics is almost at a standstill, critically accelerating the need for increased antibiotic stewardship.
MeMed BV is a diagnostic test developed to address management of patients with acute infection in different clinical settings, including Emergency Departments. The MeMed BV test uses machine learning to integrate measurements of three key host-immune proteins (TRAIL, IP-10, and CRP) into a score indicating the likelihood of bacterial or viral infections. This performance has been validated on MeMed’s compact immunoassay platform (MeMed Key) by world class institutions in multi-national blinded validation studies as well as in realworld use, altogether in over 20,000 patients. MeMed BV on MeMed Key is US FDA cleared, CE-Marked and approved by the Israeli Ministry of Health.
Under the terms of the agreement, Beckman Coulter has obtained the rights to develop and co-promote the proprietary MeMed BV test on its Access Family of Immunoassay Analysers.
