Mustafa Al-Adhami
CEO, Astek Diagnostics
Medical device company showcases groundbreaking multipurpose diagnostic platform, which enables the rapid detection of both urinary tract infection (UTI) and antibiotic sensitivity, helping to combat catastrophic levels of antimicrobial resistance.
The rise of antimicrobial-resistant superbugs is a quiet but mounting threat fueled by antibiotic misuse, resulting in bacteria that withstand current treatments. Timely diagnostic innovations are essential in preventing the misuse of antibiotics and preventing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from reaching catastrophic levels.
Mustafa Al-Adhami, CEO of Astek Diagnostics, explains: “At the moment, doctors are making guesses on how to treat patients due to long diagnostic waiting times, leading to the misuse of antibiotics and the development of antimicrobial resistance.”
Rapid UTI diagnostics innovation
Named after his grandfather who was mistreated with antibiotics following a urinary tract infection, Al-Adhami started working on a solution named Jiddu, meaning ‘grandfather’ in Arabic. Working alongside him is a dedicated team of scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs, all driven by a commitment to innovate against major health threats.
Physicians are traditionally looking at
symptoms to prescribe antibiotics
due to delays in traditional testing.
“Most antibiotic resistance emerges due to UTIs, with 17 million cases in the US alone,” says Al-Adhami.
“At Astek Diagnostics, we are creating the JidduTM Platform, an innovative clinical diagnostics platform that offers infection confirmation for urinary tract infections and antibiotic sensitivity indication within one hour. This is by no means a replacement for the use of cultures, but we are providing rapid and timely diagnostic results which can guide appropriate treatment.”
Expanding global efforts
Currently running five pilots across various urology practices, clinics and hospitals, Astek Diagnostics is offering free devices and cartridges to enable practices to assess their technology independently. Instead of using the best guess antibiotic, clinicians can have real-time information to guide them, dropping the current rate of antibiotic misuse dramatically.
“Physicians are traditionally looking at symptoms to prescribe antibiotics due to delays in traditional testing. We want to empower clinicians to incorporate AMR testing into first-line clinical practice,” Al-Adhami continues. “We want to put patients at the centre of treatment. The less guessing being made when it comes to treating patients with antibiotics, the slower the emergence of superbugs.”
