Molecular Warehouse: Mobile-enabled molecular diagnostic for remote monitoring of kidney transplant patients
Lead Participant:
MOLECULAR WAREHOUSE LTD.
Abstract
There are 35,000 kidney transplant patients in UK (and over 500,000 across developed
economies), who have to take immunosuppressant medication for the rest of their lives, in
order to avoid graft rejection.
Modern immunosupressants have increased 10-year overall kidney graft survival to 60%
compared with 40% from a decade prior. However, the narrow therapeutic index and interpatient
level variability of immunosuppressants currently necessitates patient monitoring in
the clinic.
Unfortunately, the burden on the time and cost on both patients and the healthcare system
results in infrequent testing, which combined with lifestyle changes and poor medication
adherence, leads to immunosuppressant levels being poorly controlled, and concomitantly to
shorter graft survival.
Considering that the cost benefit of kidney transplantation compared to dialysis is £24,100 per
year for each year that the patient has a functioning transplanted kidney, each year of
improved graft survival for the ~3,000 new kidney transplants per year in UK would save the
NHS £72m per year.
To solve this problem, Molecular Warehouse is developing a self-testing diagnostic device for
the rapid monitoring of immunosuppressants in kidney transplant patients. The test can be
performed at home on the patient’s smartphone, and results immediately sent wirelessly to an
online dashboard for review and confirmation by the prescribing doctor.
This test will for the first time enable a patient-centric, precision-medicine approach to
immunosuppression therapy, improving transplant maintenance and patient quality of life, and
reducing operational costs and waiting times in the NHS.
After having developed a functional proof of concept of the system, this project will develop
the pre-production prototype and initial clinical testing, in collaboration with leading
clinicians who have agreed to support this project to make this product available to patients
rapidly.
economies), who have to take immunosuppressant medication for the rest of their lives, in
order to avoid graft rejection.
Modern immunosupressants have increased 10-year overall kidney graft survival to 60%
compared with 40% from a decade prior. However, the narrow therapeutic index and interpatient
level variability of immunosuppressants currently necessitates patient monitoring in
the clinic.
Unfortunately, the burden on the time and cost on both patients and the healthcare system
results in infrequent testing, which combined with lifestyle changes and poor medication
adherence, leads to immunosuppressant levels being poorly controlled, and concomitantly to
shorter graft survival.
Considering that the cost benefit of kidney transplantation compared to dialysis is £24,100 per
year for each year that the patient has a functioning transplanted kidney, each year of
improved graft survival for the ~3,000 new kidney transplants per year in UK would save the
NHS £72m per year.
To solve this problem, Molecular Warehouse is developing a self-testing diagnostic device for
the rapid monitoring of immunosuppressants in kidney transplant patients. The test can be
performed at home on the patient’s smartphone, and results immediately sent wirelessly to an
online dashboard for review and confirmation by the prescribing doctor.
This test will for the first time enable a patient-centric, precision-medicine approach to
immunosuppression therapy, improving transplant maintenance and patient quality of life, and
reducing operational costs and waiting times in the NHS.
After having developed a functional proof of concept of the system, this project will develop
the pre-production prototype and initial clinical testing, in collaboration with leading
clinicians who have agreed to support this project to make this product available to patients
rapidly.
Lead Participant | Project Cost | Grant Offer |
---|---|---|
MOLECULAR WAREHOUSE LTD. | £585,546 | £ 249,999 |
People |
ORCID iD |
Siro Perez (Project Manager) |