Avails Medical transitions to next stage of CARB-X grant

Avails Medical, a developer of automated and fully electrical antibiotic susceptibility testing (eAST) has announced the transition to the next phase of its CARB-X grant.

Avails was awarded an additional $1.7 million in non-dilutive funding from CARB-X, the Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator. CARB-X is a global non-profit partnership based at Boston University School of Law and dedicated to funding the development of new antibiotics, vaccines, diagnostics, and other products to address the rising global threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Funds will support the accelerated development of the Avails Medical eAST system, a fully electrical antibiotic susceptibility testing device that reduces the time-to-results to an average of five hours. The Avails platform will enable health care providers to determine the most effective antibiotic treatment more efficiently for patients with severe bloodstream infections, particularly those involving multidrug-resistant pathogens.

Erin Duffy, chief of research and development of CARB-X, said: “We are delighted to support the important work of Avails Medical. The Avails eAST diagnostic platform offers a very practical solution to reducing time to actionable AST results, which is critical in guiding antibiotic therapy decisions, especially in hospital centers that are human resource constrained.

Eszter Deak, Ph.D., director of scientific and medical affairs at Avails Medical, added: “Every hour counts for a patient with sepsis. Avails’ unique rapid eAST technology presents a meaningful opportunity to improve patient care by shortening the time to effective antibiotics at an affordable cost.”

Avails could be eligible for additional funding from CARB-X upon successful completion of milestones.