NEW YORK – Day Zero Diagnostics said on Thursday that it has been granted an additional $8.2 million in funding from the Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator, or CARB-X, a global nonprofit organization.
The funding will support the transition into product development of the firm's whole-genome sequencing and machine learning-based approach to antimicrobial resistance profiling.
Day Zero Diagnostics is developing WGS-based diagnostics intended to identify a pathogen species and its antibiotic resistance profile from a blood sample within hours. CARB-X initially awarded Day Zero $6.2 million in 2020.
"This latest CARB-X award validates the tremendous progress our team of scientists and engineers has made in bringing these novel technologies to maturity and demonstrating the tremendous potential of genome sequencing technology in combating antibiotic resistance," Jong Lee, CEO of Day Zero Diagnostics, said in a statement.
Erin Duffy, chief of research and development at CARB-X, noted that Day Zero's WGS and machine learning technology "is a novel approach that could change the way infectious disease is diagnosed, help curb antibiotic resistance, and save lives."
The ultimate goal of the CARB-X program is the launch of an in vitro diagnostic instrument and cartridge system that is cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration and CE-marked.
The system will provide a sample-to-answer solution that incorporates Day Zero's technologies, including Blood2Bac, a proprietary sample preparation technology for ultra-high enrichment of bacterial DNA from clinical blood samples, and Keynome, Day Zero's machine learning algorithm for species identification and resistance profiling, the firm said.
The company will also continue to expand MicrohmDB, a proprietary database combining pathogen genomic sequences with their known antibiotic resistance and susceptibility profiles.