A Bengaluru-based biotech startup, CrisprBits, has developed a platform from CRISPR-based molecular diagnostics for early detection of antibiotic resistance in hospital-acquired infections. The following startup’s PathCrisp platform can detect resistance in bacterial samples from patients within two hours as compared to other methods which required 24-27 hours. This will help peoples in reducing prolonged hospital stays and bring down healthcare costs.
“It operates at a constant temperature, eliminating the need for a thermocycler, and works directly on various samples, including bacterial cultures,” Dr Reety Arora, Principal Scientist at CrisprBits and corresponding author of the study, said.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO), antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a critical global health challenge. As per a recent analysis in The Lancet it is found that AMR contributed to nearly 4.7 million deaths globally in 2021, with over a million directly caused by resistant infections. In 2019, India had reported over a million AMR-related deaths.
CrisBits innovation helps to tackle New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM) that drives carbapenem resistance- an antibiotic contributing to the AMR burden. “This enzyme enables bacteria to break down carbapenems and other beta-lactam antibiotics, severely limiting treatment options and posing a significant challenge in clinical settings,” the startup added.
The platform was successfully able to detect this resistance in bacterial samples from patients. PathCrisp was used to test the presence or absence of NDM in DNA isolated from 49 clinical bacterial samples. “The data showed 100% agreement with other techniques used as the gold standard (PCR-Sanger sequencing) for the same,” the research found.
Co-founder Sunil Arora added that PathCrisp offers a fast and accurate alternative to traditional methods for unparalleled precision and instrument-light adaptability making it well-suited for point-of-care diagnostics.
“The rising burden of carbapenem-resistant infections is driving up healthcare costs, prolonging hospital stays, and increasing ICU admissions and mortality. Traditional diagnostic methods, such as bacterial culture and PCR-based testing, can take 24-72 hours, delaying critical treatment decisions. PathCrisp is an exciting development with the potential to change clinical practice,” Dr RamaKrishna Prasad, a medical expert in infectious disease in Bengaluru said.
More than this the startup said that research efforts will focus on adapting PathCrisp for low-resource settings by developing lyophilised reagents for room-temperature stability. And also smart engineering approaches will be explored to create a multiplexed version, which will further expand its diagnostic capabilities, it added.
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