Designação do projeto | SMARTgNOSTICS - Global Testing & Diagnostics Solutions for antimicrobial resistances

Código do projeto | Agendas/Alianças mobilizadoras para a Reindustrialização – Candidatura nº 5

Objetivo principal| The SMARTgNOSTICS project aims to develop innovative POC devices for global monitoring of antibiotic resistant pathogens and antibiotic residues. The devices to be developed in this project will represent an important step in the fight against AMR, providing basis for international action, implementation of mitigation strategies and evaluation of progress achieved. This project thus encompasses the 4 pillars of the AMR cycle: Human Health, Animal Health, Environment and Food Safety.

Beneficiários     ALS LIFE SCIENCES PORTUGAL, S.A.

INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE INVESTIGAÇÃO AGRÁRIA E VETERINÁRIA, I.P.

LABORATÓRIO IBÉRICO INTERNACIONAL DE NANOTECNOLOGIA (LIN)

UNIVERSIDADE DO MINHO

INESC TEC - INSTITUTO DE ENGENHARIA DE SISTEMAS E COMPUTADORES, TECNOLOGIA E CIÊNCIA

INEGI - INSTITUTO DE CIÊNCIA E INOVAÇÃO EM ENGENHARIA MECÂNICA E ENGENHARIA INDUSTRIAL

INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE SAÚDE DR. RICARDO JORGE, I.P.

INSTITUTO DE SAÚDE PÚBLICA DA UNIVERSIDADE DO PORTO

SPMAQ-SOLUÇÕES PROJECTOS MAQUINAS UNIPESSOAL LDA

FRESENIUS KABI PHARMA PORTUGAL LDA

ASSOCIAÇÃO UNIVERSIDADE-EMPRESA PARA O DESENVOLVIMENTO-TECMINHO

Data de aprovação |20/07/2022

Data de início | 01/01/2023

Data de conclusão | 31/12/2025

Custo total elegível | 20.924.584,02 euros

Apoio financeiro da União Europeia | 15.647.204,01 euros

Descrição

Antibiotic resistance (AMR) poses a significant global threat of far-reaching proportions. It is estimated that drug resistant infections contribute to nearly 5 million deaths every year. In the European Union, more than 33.000 people die each year due to AMR, with an economic impact of about €1,5 billion/year in healthcare costs and productivity loss (44-46). WHO has declared AMR as one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity and has requested all countries to implement national action plans to prevent the indiscriminate use of antibiotics. It is therefore a serious public health crisis that affects the global economies. The WHO estimated that if no action is taken, the death toll is expected to increase to 10 million deaths per year by 2050, surpassing diabetes, heart disease and cancer as the leading cause of death (30).

Antibiotic resistance (AMR) is a complex process that occurs as bacteria adapt to the continuous presence of antibiotics resulting in new bacterial strains that no longer respond to antibiotics treatment, making infections virtually untreatable and thus with increased risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.

The SMARTgNOSTICS project proposes a holistic “One Health” approach to the AMR problem through the development of devices/solutions to target bacteria, AMR genes and antibiotic residues across diverse fields that compose the AMR cycle: human and animal health, food safety and the environment.

The goal is to develop point-of-care (POC) solutions that can be simultaneously "lab-on-a-chip" coupled with data acquisition and processing through Artificial Intelligence (AI), that provide integrated data for predictive analyses of AMR genes and/or pathogens. This will provide an Early Warning System to control/monitor/prevent an upcoming “superbug” pandemic.