Diagnosing urinary tract infections currently often takes two to five business days. During this time, patients are frequently treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics as a precaution – a practice that can encourage the development of antimicrobial resistance.
More Than 152 Million People Affected Worldwide Every Year
With more than 152 million cases worldwide each year, urinary tract infections are among the most common bacterial infectious diseases. The diagnostic system developed by Bugsense is designed to detect bacterial pathogens and their antibiotic resistances directly at the point of care – right where treatment takes place. The paper-based platform combines pathogen identification and resistance testing in a single step, delivering same-day results. This is intended to reduce sample transport to laboratories, long waiting times, and diagnostic costs.
Faster diagnostics could help initiate more targeted antibiotic therapies and reduce the use of unnecessary broad-spectrum antibiotics. In addition to improving patient care, Bugsense aims to reduce the growing spread of antimicrobial resistance.
EXIST Funding Set to Validate Technology and Prepare Market Entry
With the 1.23 million euros now approved from the EXIST Transfer of Research, Bugsense aims to implement several development steps over the next two years. These include expanding the team, further developing the paper-based diagnostics platform, validating the technology, preparing for clinical application, and further developing the detection of antimicrobial resistance.
The EXIST program supports science-based spin-offs in an early development phase and aims to transfer research results into marketable products more quickly.
Multiple Awards for the Munich Medtech Startup
EXIST funding is not the first award for Bugsense. Back in 2023, the startup won the m4 Award, which promotes promising projects in Bavarian biotechnology and medical technology.
This year, the company was also able to attract further attention: Bugsense received an award at the BayOConnect Innovation Award, sponsored by Informa. Co-founder Sarah Wali accepted the award.
