Sepset Biosciences Initiates Multicenter Human Clinical Study For Sepsis Treatment
Sepsis is a serious condition where the immune system becomes unbalanced due to an infection that can lead to multiple organ failure and death. It was declared a Global Health Priority by the World Health Organization in May 2017 as it is one of the most prevalent but misdiagnosed, deadly diseases. It causes the hospitalization of more than 18 million people around the world every year, including 30,000 Canadians, and leaves most survivors suffering from physical and physiological long-term effects. Despite the staggering number of Sepsis patients, and the devastating consequences caused by this condition, only 29% Canadians are aware of the disease.
Sepset Biosciences’ initiation of a clinical study is a significant step forward in commercializing a test for health care professionals so they can rapidly and appropriately treat a condition where minutes are the difference between life and death. Current methods to diagnose sepsis take more than 24 hours by which time patients are often well on their way towards tissue damage, organ failure, and death. Mortality from sepsis increases 8% for every hour that treatment is delayed. As many as 80% of sepsis deaths in hospitals could be prevented with rapid diagnosis and treatment.
Dr. Robert Hancock, co-founder of Sepset Biosciences, commented, “Results of the studies done to date are highly promising, enabling us to steadily advance towards a more formalized, larger-scale clinical trial. We are initiating this next stage of the study with 1,000 patients across five clinical sites in Canada, Colombia, Australia and the United States. Dr. Olga Pena, co-founder of Sepset, will be leading the study across the five clinical sites. Dr. Pena played a major role in identifying mechanisms that lead to the dysregulation of the immune system and discovered the new biomarkers which led to the creation of Sepset Biosciences. Sepset’s aim is to complete review of the results in the first half of 2018.”
It is expected that this international, multicenter clinical study will statistically validate the biomarker indicators that will help identify emergency room patients who will develop sepsis, and predict organ failure. A successful trial will allow Sepset to define the most promising commercial pathway for the technology.
“We identified a critical need for a diagnostic tool to quickly identify sepsis in patients. That makes the research being done at Sepset highly valuable. We have made immense progress with the development of our technology, and are looking forward to the next stage of a formalized, large-scale clinical trial,” added Jonathon Jafari, Chief Business Officer and Interim Chief Executive Officer of Sepset.
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About Sepset Biosciences Inc.
Sepset Biosciences Inc., a spin-off company by The Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), in collaboration with Dr. Robert Hancock, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Director of the Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunity Research at the University of British Columbia, is developing a first in class diagnostic assay for the early and rapid diagnosis of sepsis. www.sepset.ca
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