4 hours ago | Nadine McGrath
Air supply: The ASX medtechs tackling respiratory illnesses
Lumos Diagnostics (ASX:LDX)
The leader in POC diagnostic technologies has developed the FebriDx rapid test to help doctors quickly and accurately differentiate a viral from bacterial acute respiratory infection.
LDX non-executive chairman Sam Lanyon told * FebriDx delivers results within 10 minutes from fingerstick blood and can be used to help manage infectious patients in primary care, urgent care, emergency dept, paediatric and other outpatient settings.
“If it’s bacterial then obviously the illness will need antibiotics and if it’s viral then it may be more infectious and transmissible,” Lanyon says.
With antimicrobial resistance (AMR) considered by the World Health Organisation one of the top global public health and development threats, avoiding unnecessary use of antibiotics has become paramount, which is where LDX’s FebriDx is finding value.
“The reason why we developed the product we did is the first question a clinician is going to have to answer is whether the illness is caused by a bacteria or virus because the treatment options are clearer once that has been established,” Lanyon says.
“From discussions with the Royal College of GPs we determined there is also quite a bit of anxiety from doctors because in some cases they don’t want to prescribe antibiotics but they may have a parent feeling anxious about the illness of a child – so FebriDx quickly takes out the guess work.”In April, LDX announced that the peer-reviewed journal Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology published positive results from a FebriDx study conducted at Spain’s Sant Joan de Déu Hospital.
The study, involving 216 paediatric patients, found that FebriDx could optimise antibiotic use and reduce unnecessary chest X-rays in children with acute febrile respiratory infections.
FebriDx now has regulatory approval for use in various countries including the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal and Belgium.“We are focused on the US because they have reimbursement,” Lanyon says.
“If there is a positive incentive for adoption such as the clinician or facility getting paid then they will use the product.”He says outside of the US, LDX would like to see governments offer further support for technologies like FebriDx, which can have a positive impact on patient care and ongoing pressures within the health system more generally.
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