Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a pressing global concern and estimates by the WHO claim that antibiotic resistance fatalities will surge in future. Forward-thinking and futuristic organisations like Innominds and SCIINV Biosciences are harnessing the power of cutting-edge technologies like AI and ML to combat the growing menace of antimicrobial resistance. AMRx an AI/ ML-powered prediction tool is an innovative culture-free tool that aids in AMR management by generating rapid and accurate identification of infectious agents' susceptibility to antibiotics. Ravi Kumar Meduri, Executive Vice President, Digital and IP Solutions, Innominds and Dr UmaRani, CEO, SCIINV Biosciences reveal more. By Sonali Patranabish
AMRx proves to be a promising tool for the quick detection of resistance patterns in comparison to culture-based methods. How will you rate the efficacy of this tool when pitched against other AMR diagnostic methods like mass spectrometry, molecular diagnostics and CRISPR-based diagnostics?
AMRx is a culture-free diagnostic tool while the other methods need processing of the sample for diagnosis. AMRx eliminates the need for sample collection and specialised devices. Instead, it leverages patient clinical history, presenting complaints, and symptoms to make diagnostic predictions. This is the unique feature of AMRx. Accuracy is greater than 90 per cent and the results are clinically validated using clinical history and antibiotic susceptibility reports of over 8000 UTI patients who were prospectively recruited for this study across multiple tertiary care hospitals in India after due Institutional Ethical committee approvals.
While digital diagnostic tools can surely help overcome the limitations of conventional laboratory methods, there has been hesitancy w.r.t it is full-fledged adoption as a diagnostic tool. Can you throw light on the financial implications and technical requirements for such digital diagnostic tools?
The in-silico nature of AMRx makes it cost-effective while the other methods involve expensive instrumentation, trained manpower and a laboratory setting. In resource-limited settings and high-burden laboratories, AMRx will be very handy and can provide instant results which can be a great aid for clinicians as a clinical decision support system. The cost of an AMRx test report is approximately one-fourth of traditional diagnostic tests. This significant reduction in cost addresses issues related to healthcare affordability and accessibility, making it an attractive option for both healthcare providers and patients. The tool’s affordability, combined with its rapid turnaround time, enhances its accessibility across diverse healthcare settings.
What sort of challenges do you foresee with the product entering the market, given that increased use of AMR surveillance and diagnostics is seen more amongst high-income countries?
No major challenges are foreseen as AMRx will further complement the global efforts for effective AMR surveillance and diagnostics. AMRx can be seamlessly integrated into the data management systems of clinics and hospitals. This integration facilitates real-time predictions and monitoring of AMR trends, promoting the rational use of antibiotics, and supporting antimicrobial stewardship and AMR surveillance at grassroots levels.
What are your plans at Innominds for integrating technology to overcome healthcare challenges?
GenAI-Based Report Generation: AMRx incorporates advanced technology for report generation. The tool provides comprehensive reports that include GenAI-generated summaries explaining the basis of the predictions. This feature offers clinicians clear insights into the diagnostic results and the rationale behind the recommended treatments. The use of GenAI ensures that the reports are both informative and easy to interpret, supporting more informed clinical decisions.
Intv with Dr UmaRani, CEO, SCIINV Biosciences
What sort of action plan and efforts are underway at SCIINV Biosciences to help combat AMR which is a growing global concern?
AMRx utilises advanced AI and ML algorithms to analyze extensive patient data collected from multiple tertiary care hospitals. This data-driven approach ensures that the tool can accurately predict UTIs and associated antibiotic resistance patterns. By leveraging clinical
history, presenting complaints, and symptoms, AMRx provides a precise diagnosis without the need for traditional culture tests, which typically take 48 hours. In contrast, AMRx delivers results in less than 10 minutes, thus enabling rapid clinical decision-making.
AMRx is planned to be integrated into the health systems of a few state government portals as a surveillance and diagnostic tool. Genotype-phenotype correlation using whole-genome sequencing of select isolates is being performed to further improve the sensitivity and specificity of AMRx.
Your collaboration with Innominds has been a step towards trying to combat the growing nuisance of AMR. What are your plans at SCIINV to curb AMR in real-time?
Response: Urinary Tract Infections(UTI), Respiratory Tract Infections(RTI) and blood-stream infections are the most commonly reported community and hospital-acquired infections.
AMRx has been proven as a clinical-grade digital diagnostic tool for UTIs. The same know-how is going to be deployed for other bacterial infections (Respiratory Tract Infections and bloodstream infections) both in human and veterinary practice. AMRx will be made available at Public and Private hospitals, Primary Health Centers(PHCs), Community Health Centers (CHCs) and diagnostic labs. Our aim is to serve the mankind by protecting under-developed and developing countries from AMR where critical pathogen-resistant rates are high.
While AMRx has been a cutting edge digital tool for AMR surveillance, what sort of sustainable therapeutics and other technological innovations are you working towards?
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) '2021 Antibacterial Agents in Clinical and Preclinical Development: An Overview and Analysis' report describes the antibacterial clinical and preclinical pipeline as stagnant and far from meeting global needs. Since 2017 only 12 antibiotics have been approved, 10 of which belong to existing classes with established mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
“There is a major gap in the discovery of antibacterial treatments, and more so in the discovery of innovative treatments,” said Dr Hanan Balkhy, WHO Assistant Director-General on AMR. “This presents a serious challenge to overcoming the escalating pandemic of antimicrobial resistance and leaves every one of us increasingly vulnerable to bacterial infections including the simplest infections.”
SCIINV is working on a GenAI-enabled drug discovery platform for identifying novel therapeutics towards containment of AMR.
AMR has become a buzz word, as a silent epidemic and its profound impact on public health. However how do you intend to champion this war against AMR in real time and on the ground? How do you intend to take these discussions beyond boardrooms and translate them into actionable steps?
SCIINV is collaborating with public health organisations to drive global programmes for infection prevention and control. SCIINV in partnership with global research organisations, academia and digital technology firms is working on a roadmap for global outreach programmes.