Microbio is an Australian biotech startup that plans to change the course of pathogen detection. Our novel diagnostic method combines the latest advances in bioinformatics, genomics and molecular microbiology to deliver rapid pathogen detection using qPCR.
Developed in collaboration with Australian clinicians, Microbio’s flagship product InfectID-BSI has been designed with clinical decision-making in mind, to help solve the most pressing challenges facing healthcare today; improving the outcomes of sepsis patients while minimising the development of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) organisms.
Knowledge is power
Without knowing what pathogens are causing an infection, clinicians cannot treat their patients effectively. InfectID-BSI identifies 26 pathogens that are responsible for about 95% of sepsis cases – putting the power back into the hands of healthcare providers.
Timing is everything
For a patient with sepsis, every hour effective treatment is delayed increases their chance of death by 7.6%. InfectID-BSI can deliver actionable results in just 3 hours of lab time – giving clinicians the information they need to act fast.
0.5mL of blood
When a patient is very young, frail or in a life-threatening condition, collecting enough blood to determine the causative pathogen using the current method, blood culture, can be difficult. InfectID-BSI’s requirement for only 0.5mL of whole blood delivers key intelligence to clinicians with minimal impact on patients.
How it all began
Microbio was founded by Dr Flavia Huygens in 2017. Dr Huygens began her career as a molecular microbiologist in a busy hospital lab in South Africa. After moving to Australia in 1998 and working as a researcher and educator at Queensland’s University of Technology, Dr Huygens became frustrated with the limitations of blood culture as a pathogen detection method. The right set of skills across bioinformatics, genomics and molecular microbiology combined with the right type of experience with all the available techniques and tools put Dr Huygens in a unique position. She was able to see the bigger picture and come up with a new way to detect pathogens.
Microbio today
Today, Microbio is a thriving team of 20+ scientists, entrepreneurs and business experts. We operate inside two purpose-built labs at the Translational Research Institute on the Princess Alexandra Hospital campus in the heart of the incubator and translational research community.
InfectID-BSI is our flagship product that works in conjunction with our InfectID-Client software. But for us, this is just the beginning. We plan on extending our range to provide rapid and accurate diagnostics for an array of pathogens that affect human healthcare, agriculture, animal healthcare and environmental surveillance.