OPTObacteria
Research Areas
At a Glance
- Status: Completed Consortium
- Year Launched: 2012
- Initiating Organization: European Commission Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)
- Initiator Type: Government
- Disease focus:
Acute/Chronic Infectious Disease - Location: Europe
Abstract
The OPTObacteria consortium aims to develop a multi-analyte and automatic laboratory detector (ALD) for antibiotic-resistant infections. The goal is to detect these analytes within four to six hours from the sample collection, provide a report with the actual patient status, and predict emerging drug resistance through the companion epidemiology software. The platform technology is an opto-electronic device, in which the appropriate ligand-probe, linked onto an opto-electronic surface, will be able to specifically recognize biomolecules of the resistant infections.
Mission
The OPTObacteria consortium is a European-funded effort to advance a new technology (engineering approach based on optimized optical fiber system) for the identification of a drug-resistance profile. Highly specific ligands for enzymes class referred to as ESBLs (medicinal-ligand chemistry/microbiology approach) and others such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), will be detected as a first application of the new methods.
The consortium aims to validate the technology in vitro (during the two-year project) as a diagnostic tool. This tool will be able to perform detection against ESBLs, and other proteins involved in the resistance process, directly in the biofluid, without, or in limited broth incubation for bacterial growing. A second method will provide an antibiotic sensitivity test through monitoring bacterial growth in drug resistant infections and to provide an antibiogram-like report. Prescribed antibiotics will be given in a miniaturized cell culture device and tested over a short time period (four to eight hours), and the antibiogram-like report will be evaluated, shortening the time to diagnosis.
The aims of the consortium are to advance the following:
Financing
OPTObacteria is funded through the European Union Seventh Framework Programme via Project No. 286998.
Homepage |
Points of Contact
Alberto Venturelli
Tydock Pharma s.r.l.
Via Campi, 183 – 41125
Modena - Italy
phone: +390592055143
email: a.venturelli@tydockpharma.com
Sponsors & Partners
Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior De Investigaciones Cientificas |
Centro Regionale Information Communication Technology scrl |
Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche |
Molecular Discovery Ltd. |
Optosmart s.r.l. |
Proyeccion Europlan Xxi S.L. |
Tydock Pharma s.r.l. |
Universita Degli Studi Di Modena E Reggio Emilia |