Edx Medical Grp Share News (EDX)

(Alliance News) - EDX Medical Group PLC on Friday said it has partnered with the NHS to develop a new pneumonia test for critically ill patients.

EDX is a Cambridge, England-based firm that develops digital diagnostic products and services to treat cancer, heart disease, and infectious diseases.

The firm has teamed up with the Intensive Care Unit at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to further advance the development of a highly precise test that identifies the DNA or RNA of microbes that cause lung infections in critically ill patients.

Once the test is completed, results can be read using digital technology and made available to ICU doctors in 60 seconds, reducing the wait time compared to a manual test result.

EDX aims to make the test available for NHS patients this year.

The public-private partnership also involves the University of Cambridge, the UK Health Security Agency and Cambridge Enterprise, with the work backed in the early stages by Addenbrook's Charitable Trust. It will support the UK government's ten-year plan for the NHS by using digital technology to improve bedside care.

The Cambridge foundation trust has entered into a four-year service agreement with EDX Medical to provide the assay for its critically ill patients.

"This is a massively important project which will result in a world class test that will demonstrate the immediate impact of new clinical diagnostics in frontline NHS hospitals, saving both lives and resources," said EDX Founder Chris Evans.

NHS England estimates that around 75,500 people in England alone develop hospital-acquired pneumonia every year, leading to roughly 15,000 deaths and the avoidable loss of nearly 460,000 hospital bed days a year. HAPs alone cost the NHS an estimated GBP1.5 billion every year, taking almost 1 million bed days from service. The condition can often be avoided through early detection.

Community acquired pneumonias are estimated to affect 83,000 patients every year, with hospitalised cases accounting for 95% of the condition's costs. CAP is the most common infectious reason for patients to be admitted to intensive care, with hospitalised cases costing the NHS GBP731 million a year.

EDX will also, under its existing collaboration with life sciences firm Thermo Fisher Scientific, develop and validate a kit version of the test to be provided to other hospitals and laboratories in the UK and Europe. The kit is subject to regulatory approval.

Shares in EDX Medical were last traded at 10.25 pence on the Aquis Stock Exchange on Friday.

By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter

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