Bloodstream Infection Diagnostics Get Boost from Oxford Nanopore, Day Zero Partnership

There are 11 million sepsis-related deaths every year, accounting for one in five deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In these severe infections, the risk of mortality can increase by the hour, making early and effective treatment paramount. However, current culture-based diagnostics—including those for antimicrobial susceptibility—can take days to return a result.

Now, Oxford Nanopore, a company known for nanopore-based DNA sequencing technology, is teaming up with the infectious disease diagnostics company Day Zero Diagnostics to develop an end-to-end solution for the diagnosis of bloodstream infections—a leading cause of sepsis. Day Zero Diagnostics, based in Boston, is an infectious disease diagnostics company harnessing the power of whole-genome sequencing and AI to combat the rise of antibiotic-resistant infections.

The companies will collaborate to integrate and optimize a diagnostic system for use in clinical settings that will provide same-day identification and genomic-based antibiotic susceptibility profiling without the need for blood culture. The companies plan to pursue regulatory approvals, including with the FDA, in the future.

“We are pleased to launch this collaboration with Oxford Nanopore that integrates nanopore sequencing innovations with Day Zero Diagnostics’ platform technologies to develop a first-of-its kind diagnostic solution for sepsis,” said Jong Lee, CEO and co-founder of Day Zero Diagnostics. “Culture free, same day, organism identification and antimicrobial susceptibility profiling directly from native samples will be a game changer for infectious disease diagnostics, directly enabling early, targeted life-saving treatment for patients.”

The collaboration is targeting a fully automated sample processing and sequencing workflow that fits the needs of clinical hospital labs. The diagnostic system will combine Day Zero Diagnostics’ ultra-high enrichment sample preparation technology and its AI-driven Keynome microbial identification and antibiotic susceptibility pipeline with sequencing reads from Oxford Nanopore’s high-throughput, small-format PromethION 2 Solo.

”We are excited to partner with Day Zero Diagnostics to bring the benefits of nanopore sequencing to fight bloodstream infections,” said Gordon Sanghera, PhD, CEO of Oxford Nanopore Technologies. “Our hope is that the rapid results, high accuracy, and accessibility of the Oxford Nanopore system, combined with Day Zero Diagnostics’ expertise and workflow, will make it possible for more people to access a solution that’s fast and effective in the fight against bloodstream infections.”