Mat Upton was in Birmingham this week at the Conservative Party Conference - not as a delegate! He was there to help showcase the technology being developed by Spectromics (www.spectromics.com); Mat is a Director at Spectromics, a company developing a revolutionary way to help doctors select the best antibiotic to treat infections. The event was organised by the StartUp Hub (@StartUpHubUK) and was a chance to raise the profile of the company to national press and speak to other new startups from the UK. Some interesting meetings, but no chance for a selfie with Boris!
Spectromics are developing a 10 minute test to select the best antibiotic for treating urinary tract infections - the biggest cause of bacterial infection in humans. These infections are currently treated with a 'best guess' therapy without testing to see which antibiotic will kill the infecting bacteria - it takes too long and costs too much to test every urine sample. With the Spectromics test, a GP will be able to chose the best antibiotic for each case by running a test whenever a patient visits the surgery. This will help significantly in our efforts to reduce inappropriate prescriptions and slow the spread of antibiotic resistance.
