ICARRE led by WEEZION

Sepsis is the body’s response to infection and affects 49 million people worldwide each year. In Europe, 3.4 million cases are reported each year, 40% of which occur in children under the age of 5, causing 680,000 deaths. Sepsis is caused mainly by bacterial (80-85%) or fungal (10-15%) infections.

The current therapeutic approach consists of administering empirical, broad-spectrum, high-dose antibiotic treatment without waiting for test results, as it is estimated that the probability of survival decreases by 7.5% for every hour of delay in effective anti-infective treatment. However, the current time required to obtain information identifying the pathogen and its possible resistance to antibiotics exceeds 12 to 24 hours.

This probabilistic treatment proves ineffective in 35% of cases and has significant side effects for surviving patients: more than 60% of them suffer from post-sepsis syndromes (PSS): repeated infections, organ dysfunction, cognitive decline, depression, etc.

This suboptimal use of antimicrobials has contributed to the selection of (multi)resistant bacteria and their spread among humans, livestock, and the environment.

The fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been a priority for the WHO since 2017 due to the risk of new pandemics emerging.

The ICARRE project, led by the startup Weezion, the Hospices Civils de Lyon, and Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University, aims to develop and bring to the clinical testing phase a rapid diagnostic solution for bacterial and fungal infections responsible for sepsis and their resistance to antimicrobials.

Through the development of Weezion DX, the first rapid, all-in-one, 100% automated diagnostic tool, the ICARRE project aims to: 

– enable a diagnosis to be delivered in 60-90 minutes, including the identification of pathogens covering more than 98% of epidemiology, the broad detection of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms for more than 98% of first-line molecule resistance mechanisms, categorize the pathogen as S/R (sensitive or resistant) with a prediction of the MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration), all at a competitive cost of less than €50 per test, deployable on blood cultures for bacteremia and fungemia, and on isolates for other infectious locations.

– Improve patient care by introducing appropriate treatment more quickly: de-escalate (reducing post-sepsis syndromes, hospitalization costs, and combating antimicrobial resistance) or escalate (effective treatment increasing patient survival rates). 

– Help set up an integrated epidemiological surveillance tool for resistance to anticipate the emergence of new pandemics.

According to scientific publications, the savings generated by the routine use of Weezion DX will reduce hospital stays by 20% and PSS by 25%, resulting in savings of €2 billion per year for the French healthcare system alone.

The project builds on a long and fruitful history of collaboration between the three partners. They will benefit from the support of Infectious Disease Cluster to accelerate the market launch of Weezion DX and its deployment in hospital platforms across France, Europe, and worldwide.