Swedish Researchers Win $10M Prize for UTI Diagnostic Test

Facts

• A breakthrough urinary tract infection (UTI) diagnostic test created by Swedish company Sysmex Astrego has won the £8M ($10.2M) Longitude Prize for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) research. The test is called PA-100 AST.¹
• In the test, a urine sample is deposited into a cartridge that detects within 15 minutes whether or not an infection is bacterial. It's then placed in a machine that passes the infection through thousands of channels to determine the best antibiotic to prescribe, taking 45 minutes.²
• The test not only brings diagnostic and prescription times down from days to minutes, but its small size will allow doctors to perform such tests themselves within their own offices instead of outsourcing the testing.³
• The race to develop an AMR breakthrough began 10 years ago, with PA-100 taking first place out of 250 submissions sent to the charity behind the Longitude Prize. This comes as the UN projects global deaths due to drug-resistant bacteria will reach 10M by 2050.⁴
• While roughly 25% of antibiotics are currently retired due to bacteria adapting to resist them, scientists believe this new technology could allow for old antibiotics to be brought back into use for targeted treatment.¹
• Countries like the UK are still studying the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the test. Scientists including Prof. Laura Piddock of the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership, however, believe it will only be a 'game-changer' for wealthy countries.²

Sources: ¹Guardian, ²BBC News, ³Yahoo Finance and ⁴Medical Device Network.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Antibiotic Research UK. AMR is one of the most pressing medical issues of our time, and thanks to the Longitude Prize, years of research have culminated in several diagnostic breakthroughs. While the official competition is over, and PA-100 AST has won, scientists are now working to distribute this technology across the globe and even develop it further. This technology has the chance to save millions of lives so long as funding and research continue.
• Narrative B, as provided by Al Jazeera. While we should celebrate this breakthrough and thank the scientists behind it, it's also important to remember Big Pharma's role in the collapse of the antibiotic industry. Once drug patents expire and corporations can no longer hike prices, these companies stop manufacturing life-saving drugs, leaving patients out to dry. Victory over AMR could come quicker if Big Pharma chose to prioritize people over profits.

Predictions