The Upper Austrian startup GENSPEED® Biotech develops a rapid test system for hospital bacteria and periodontal pathogens

© GENSPEED® Biotech GmbH

GENSPEED® can be used for both nucleic acid-based, i.e. genetic tests, as well as for protein-based tests. For example, certain bacteria or viruses can be identified quickly or the concentration of various biomarkers in blood or in other sample materials can be determined.

Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant hospital bacteria that occur during hospital stays or infections with periodontal pathogens can result in serious consequences for affected patients. Both the detection of hospital bacteria in hospitals and the detection of periodontal pathogens in the dental field can take several days. The patient samples must either be examined through the use of lengthy in-house analyses or sent to external laboratories. With the rapid tests from GENSPEED® Biotech, hospital bacteria can be detected in the hospital laboratory in just 100 minutes, and periodontal pathogens can be detected in just 20 minutes directly at the dentist's practice. In both cases, rapid diagnosis allows for an immediate, targeted start of treatment. The GENSPEED immediate diagnosis system is a patented technology based on microfluid biochips, miniaturized optical detection and automation. In other words, the sample (e.g. from a nasal smear) is processed using standard methods and dripped into a so-called microfluid chip. No further intervention is required by the user, who can read the test result on the computer after a short time.