Israeli company develops faster, more comprehensive tuberculosis test

• Date: 30 March 2021
• Published date: 30 March 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The testing and validation phases will be fully funded by Stop TB Partnership, an international alliance which is comprised of over governmental and non-governmental organisations in more than 100 countries, all dedicated to eliminating the disease.

While current gold standard tests take days to return results and have issues determining antibiotic resistance, BATM's new test returns results within approximately two hours, identifying the strain and its resistance to antibiotics.

It does this using a combination of a one-step PCR test, developed by BATM subsidiary Adaltis, with a NATlab instrument, which uses a new isothermal RCA process developed by BATM's associate company, Ador Diagnostics.

The testing and validation of the test will take place at the University of Heidelberg, with BATM anticipating it will officially begin selling them next year.

BATM CEO Dr. Zvi Marom said the company was delighted about the new testing method and the funding and research announcements, saying they believe it "will be particularly crucial in preventing the spread of drug-resistant TB strains."

"We also expect our solution to be more affordable and accessible than those used today," he said.

Dr. Marom elaborated, saying that "The devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB have been with us for centuries and are still here today. It is vital that we develop innovative solutions and systems that will enable this...