Zepto aims to replace the commercial blood culture with a >99.5% sensitivity Invasive Fungal Infection assay <90 minutes.

Every year, about 75,000 U.S. residents contract an invasive fungal infection (IFI). Globally, IFIs are responsible for an estimated 1.5 million deaths per year. In the U.S., 80% of antifungals are being misused due to ineffective and lengthy diagnostic tests. The current death rate from Fungal Infections is alarmingly high at around 35%-50%.

The inability of current diagnostic practices to quickly and accurately identify invasive fungal infections has led to a patient mortality rate of between 35 – 50% and $4.5 billion hospital cost annually in the US. Accurate diagnostics within 12 hours reduces mortality to 11% however, blood culture, the current industry standard for diagnosis, takes more than two days and has a sensitivity of only 50%. Given the time constraints, doctors often start a fungal treatment leading to 80% of antifungals being misused and are associated with the rise in drug-resistant fungal strains.

Zepto’s GMR instrument and cartridge will get results in 90 minutes by eliminating the two-day incubation period required for blood culture. Mortality increases 8% per hour of delayed treatment in patients experiencing septic shock. Currently, a positive blood culture requires additional diagnostics to identify the pathogen. Zepto’s system identifies pathogen cell-free DNA in patient samples, which results in faster, more accurate diagnostic results.