NEW YORK – Medical technology company Cytovale announced Thursday it has received an additional $3.8 million to fund a pilot study for its rapid sepsis diagnostic system for patients with respiratory infections.
The funding is an expansion of Cytovale's previous partnership with the US Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. In October, the company received $7.6 million from BARDA to advance its technology through clinical studies and good manufacturing practice.
The new funds will be used to conduct a pilot study for Cytovale's Rapid Sepsis Diagnostic system for patients with possible respiratory infections, including SARS-CoV-2. The study will be conducted with Louisiana State University and Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and will begin immediately, the company said. Initial data is expected in the next 60 days, Cytovale added. The study is expected to cost $5.9 million, and Cytovale said it will fund the additional R&D costs.
“We are looking for any advantage over COVID-19 as Louisiana emerges as a hot spot," said Hollis O'Neal, the study's leader. "We are optimistic that this new system could be a part of the way critically ill patients are evaluated in the short and long term.”
The study is included in BARDA's Rapidly Deployable Capabilities program to identify and pilot near-term solutions for the COVID-19 pandemic.
San Francisco-based Cytovale's technology looks at the structure of immune cells through high-speed imaging, machine learning, and microfluidics and can diagnose sepsis in 10 minutes, it said. The goal is to enable timely and accurate triage in the emergency department, according to the company.