Xcellence in Bio Innovations and Technologies (xBITS) has now developed a fast antibiotic finder point-of-care (POC) device. The technology platform RightBiotic enables detection of antibiotic sensitivity in all bacterial pathogens, promote evidence-based prescription and stall anti microbial resistance (AMR). The company is now at a phase to raise funds to spur the sales of its technology platform.
 
The portable testing system can be conducted on a table top, at room temperature by a health worker at the sub-centre, primary healthcare centre and nursing staff. Even a small diagnostic lab can conduct the study.

The Hyderabad-based company will commercialise this technology in India. The cost per test is comparable to the manual Kirby Bauer method for Antibiotic Sensitivity Test (AST) which is cost-effective. We are looking at raising capital and active partnerships for rapid growth of sales of RightBiotic, Prof. Suman Kapur, Dean, International Programmes and Collaborations and Senior Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, BITS- Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, Jawahar Nagar, told Pharmabiz.
 
Now xBITS is keen to ensure affordable, accessible and reliable healthcare for all, specially in rural, remote and hard-to-reach populations. The validation trials were conducted at Mediciti Institute of Medical Sciences and Gandhi Medical College, Hyderabad, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and AIIMS, Jodhpur and several pathology labs in Delhi and Hyderabad, with a sensitivity of 97%, she added.

The company bagged the best PoC award. Several factors such as acute need for a rapid test for bacterial antibiotic sensitivity, versatility of the patentable technology and potential for large scale commercialisation led to wining the Technology Start up award, she said.
 
Global products are at least 15-fold more expensive because of the capital investment. The cost per test is at least 3-4 fold higher with a time frame of three days to provide the AST report. But RightBiotic is 6-fold faster and is the cheapest and a rapid antibiotic finder presently available.
 
Agreeing to the fact that in India 80% healthcare facilities sans the required infrastructure to conduct bacterial culture and sensitivity test, Prof. Kapur said that RightBiotic platform is a portable PoC device, that can be placed across all Indian hospitals besides find its place in a remote doctor’s clinic and or even at homes of chronically ill patients.
 
The scenario of irrational use of antibiotics is fueled by lack of infrastructure to perform an AST test which requires 24-72 hours of waiting time. The promotion of wide spectrum antibiotics by pharmaceutical companies is also an issue. There is indiscriminate use of antibiotics in the dairy and the poultry industry too. Finally political is needed control over-the-counter sale of antibiotics, she said.

Several countries do not allow antibiotic sale without AST reports. India also needs to follow a similar move to dispel the growing global reputation that it is an antibiotic popping capital of the world and is a  source of most multi-drug resistant strains.
 
The single challenge is acceptance of indigenous technologies. Our country only has a handful of successful homegrown indigenous technologies which the medical fraternity is skeptic to accept. Therefore, we are import dependent. Government of India should take concrete steps to adopt this technology in the Public Health System of India to promote evidence-based prescription of antibiotics and extend the life and efficacy of these life-saving drugs, stated Prof Kapur.