A glimpse into the innovations on AMR Quest Winners list so far
Fig: An Optical Biospy device from Adiuvo Diagnostics & a Portable Multiplexed Analyzer from Achira (analyzer and cassette)
The period since late 1980s can be considered as the dark ages of antimicrobial discovery, as no new class of antibiotic has been discovered since. With microbes developing resistance to existing antimicrobials and the pace of discovery of new molecules slowing down, Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been identified to be the next big global health concern. The way to tide over this global health concern is through innovative ideas routed in a solid foundation of fundamental life science research. But these ideas need a catalyst to help them blossom from their laboratory based cocoons into the real world for meaningful impact.
The role of eco-system enablers like C-CAMP thus become extremely crucial. C-CAMP has been striving towards improving and supporting research in various field and has dedicated programs to scout and nurture innovators.
C-CAMP is also part of the CARB-X Global Accelerator Network. CARB-X is one of the largest not-for-profit partnerships, dedicated to accelerating the early development of antibacterial products. C-CAMP, in association with CARB-X, conducts an AMR Quest annually, to identify and support promising innovations that can combat AMR. The three month AMR Accelerator Program that follows the AMR Quest, supports innovators, start-ups and SMEs to validate and fast-track their solutions to the market.
It is open to students, independent researchers from government and private institutions. AMR Quest awards incubator facilities to help researchers in building the product and also in the manufacturing and patenting requirements. Over the past years C-CAMP has supported 12 innovators in this sector.
Innovations in rapid antibiotic susceptibility detection
The last three editions of AMR Quest witnessed great and innovative entries from researchers across the country. Multiple innovative designs for diagnosing super bugs and their susceptibility to drugs were recognised during the previous editions of AMR Quest. Ampligene guided by Dr. Chirag Pandya was awarded the prize in 2020 for their one step real time AMR test panel. RapidDx was represented by Dr. Satish Kalme. Their patented r-PASA (Rapid Personalised Antibiotic Susceptibility Assay) was at the heart of the rapid diagnostic innovation that they came up with. It is a microfluidic chamber that can provide with antibiotic susceptibility data with no requirement of pathogen under 5 hours. Adiuvo Diagnostics led by Dr Bala Pesala, also have a rapid susceptibility solution that can provide insights into phenotypic Antibiotic Susceptibility that provides both drug resistance profile and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The Adiuvo device accomplishes this by detecting biomarker concentration and autofluorescence intensity changes in pathogens under antibiotic stress.
Disease specific innovations Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) is one of the painful conditions mostly affecting women. It is caused by a few bacteria. UTI detection strategies are time consuming and the treatment is long and cumbersome. The slow, persistent nature of the disease leads to repeated infections and can lead to emergence of AMR. Achira labs led by Dr. Dhananjay Dendukuri decided to target this lacunae in UTI diagnostic and devised a one-step rapid diagnostic test for UTI. Their product Bug Check is a rapid molecular diagnostics platform for identification of microbial species and antimicrobial resistance genes in urinary tract infections.They were part of the C-CAMP AMR Quest in 2020.
On the other hand to validate super-bugs in UTI infections Papyrus Diagnostics co-founded by Venkat Ramesan and Prof. Bhushan Toley of IISc, have developed an bacterial susceptibility recognition test for UTI to identify resistant bacteria during the infection. They were part of the AMR Quest in 2022.
Innovations in therapeutics
Diagnostics will remain the 1st line of defence against AMR. But therapeutics are an equally important area of action in the fight against AMR. Thus C-CAMP AMR Quest also supports promising ideas in the form of direct acting small molecules or non-traditional therapeutics.
Geetika Dhanda-a graduate research student from JNCASR- had an innovative approach to improve bacterial susceptibly to existing drugs by using molecular adjuvants that disturb structure of the bacterial cell membrane. Her idea was supported through the idea-track of AMR Quest.
Abgenics headed by Sanjiban Banarjee, was part of the 2022 cohort and stood out for their work in developing a new class of biologic antimicrobials called Abtids. Abtids are antibody fragments from camels, that carry a peptide that is toxic for a pathogen. These are stable, small molecules and can be considered as a platform technology.
Another small molecule based solution came from one of the FDNR labs headed by Dr. Shridhar Narayan that was targeted against ESKAPE pathogens. While Pepthera, led by Dr. Gaurav Jerath in 2021 were selected through the AMR Quest for their development of programable small peptides targeting bacterial cell membranes. Tanay Bhatt, from InSTEM and co-founder of Koshkey had a more focused approach and his solution was specific to antimicrobial-resistant genes and diabetic wounds. He used RNAi therapy to modulate gene responses to aid the wound healing.
AI solutions in AMR Innovative and the developing world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has not left the AMR research far behind. Algorithmic Biologics headed by Dr. Manoj Gopalkrishnan with its ingenious use of deep technology of software as a service (SAAS) combined with AI as a molecular diagnostic tool was awarded the AMR Quest in 2022. Durbar Roy, co-founder of DeepL BioXInnovation won the award previous year for their innovative AI backed UTI diagnosing test.
AMR is a complex problem with solutions required from all corners of life science research and beyond. C-CAMP’s AMR Quest has rightly recognised this, and hence supports innovations from all groups of researchers. Be it platform technologies, diagnostics, or AI driven solutions, AMR Quest covers it all.
Disclaimer: The blog is a compilation of information on a given topic that is drawn from credible sources; however, this does not claim to be an exhaustive document on the subject. It is not intended to be prescriptive, nor does it represent the opinion of C-CAMP or its partners. The blog is intended to encourage discussion on an important topic that may be of interest to the larger community and stakeholders in associated domains.
References:
https://www.techno-preneur.net/technology/new-technologies/health/Abtids.html
