Canada-based biotechnology company Asep Medical has announced that its SepsetER sepsis diagnostic test has detected Covid-19 severity from a blood sample.
SepsetER test is a blood-based gene expression assay. It is said to have a simple procedure that can deliver results in about an hour after taking a blood sample in the emergency room or intensive care unit.
The study, led by Asep founder, chair, and CEO Robert Hancock, found that the sepsis diagnostic test has the potential to detect Covid-19 patients at risk of developing severe sepsis. It can also advance the precision medicine approach to allow customised treatment of the disease.
According to the study results, severe Covid-19 is a type of sepsis based on the evaluation of the blood gene expression signatures.
The sepsis diagnosis technology can support the fight against sepsis in Covid-19 and future pandemics, Asep Medical claimed.
Hancock said: “Our SepsetER test is fast, efficient and highly accurate at identifying those patients at the highest risk of progressing to severe sepsis.
“We are in the process of setting up subsequent clinical trials to demonstrate the utility of applying the SepsetER test on sepsis patients and identifying those patients at greatest risk of developing severe sepsis.
“The results of these clinical trials will be used to support our regulatory filings with the FDA to get the test cleared for use in hospitals.”
The study results were published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports. It assessed the blood of 124 early (1–5 days after hospital admission) and late (6–20 days after hospital admission) sampled patients with confirmed Covid-19 infections from hospitals in Quebec, Canada.
Asep said SepsetER will allow physicians to make critical early decisions regarding suitable therapies. This, in turn, lowers the overall morbidity and mortality due to sepsis.
In June, the company entered a joint venture agreement with Bahrain-based Seaspring to advance regulatory approval and commercialisation of its SepsetER technology in Bahrain and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
