AT1 FY21 - General Discussion + FA, page-1060

A v good exploratory report about FebriDx effectiveness + costs + usage potential has been published by Health Technology Wales.

FebriDx point-of-care test for acute respiratory infection in patients attending Emergency Departments
_{https://www.healthtechnology.wales/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/TER238-FebriDx.pdf}

Some contextual background:
- Health Technology Wales (HTW) is a national body working to improve the quality of care in Wales. They collaborate with partners across health, social care and the technology sectors to ensure an all-Wales approach. They are funded by Welsh Government and hosted within NHS Wales, but independent of both. They cover any health technology that isn’t a medicine, such as medical devices, surgical procedures, psychological therapies, tele-monitoring or rehabilitation _{(https://www.healthtechnology.wales/about/)}

- I had posted on 7 Jan'21 details of a successful study that was conducted in London re: "Use of the FebriDx point-of-care assay as part of a triage algorithm for medical admissions with possible COVID-19"_{(https://hotcopper.com.au/posts/47960917/single)} - if you recall, this London hospital emergency dept study successfully proved FebriDx's potential in filtering bacterial VS viral initial diagnosis quickly + significant hospital time, isolation ward and $ savings for Covid19.

- After this study, UK's NICE gov body shared a 'medtech innovation' briefing doc to the UK&I NHS org (sort of a 'hey, check this new tech' type notice)

- above HTW exploratory report is picking up from that point. HTW's core job is to explore NHS innovation topics, review 'published evidence", conduct quick cost/benefit review + recommend how the new tech could further benefit Wales healthcare...after which Wales Healthcare bodies could consider any further study trials and/or tech procurement.

The full HTW report makes interesting reading...here are some excerpts, which were new datapoints for me:
- (Schneider et al. (2020) "A budget impact analysis study was identified which found the cumulative annual cost of FebriDx to be less than a CRP POC test and no test (£237 million versus £290 million and £327 million respectively)."

- "One study of FebriDx in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients is due to report imminently in the US". "..observational study of individuals presenting to emergency departments, urgent care centres and primary care in the US". "..estimated enrolment is 2,000 participants" (this is the US trial planned to finish Dec'20 for US FDA approval submission)

-"A second study of FebriDx in Australian emergency departments is due to report in 2022" (nice! didn't know about this one)

- "FebriDx was estimated to cost £12.75 (excluding VAT). Published evidence was found to suggest that FebriDx could save costs by reducing antibiotic use and avoiding associated complications. NICE identified six other CE-marked devices with some of the same functions as FebriDx, however, none included a viral biomarker and all need bench-top analysers."

Report conclusion