Please join us in welcoming Astek Diagnosis back home to bwtech at UMBC!
Astek Diagnostics, a medical device company, recently secured funding to develop its novel approach for the early detection and accurate diagnosis of urinary tract infections.
“We’re excited to use this financing to drive our product forward,” said Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Mustafa Al-Adhami, Ph.D. who earned his master’s and doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from UMBC. “We’re grateful to be able to continue developing our rapid diagnostic testing platform to further improve patient care and health outcomes.”
UTIs affect 13 million Americans every year. The current standard of care is to administer antibiotics before a patient’s antibiotic sensitivity information is available. Unfortunately, the overuse of antibiotics continues to contribute to bacterial resistance and increases the risk of difficult-to-treat infections and sepsis.
Astek’s patented device can confirm an infection’s antibiotic sensitivity, which will help clinicians identify and treat UTIs swiftly, preventing complications and reducing the burden on individuals and healthcare systems.
Dr. Mustafa Al-Adhami was inspired to develop this technology by his grandfather’s battle with UTIs and antibiotic resistance. Astek’s first product, Jiddu, aims to address the needs of the millions of Americans diagnosed with UTIs annually who face significant pain and complications.
Several of Astek’s core team members are graduates of UMBC, and the company actively collaborates with UMBC physicians and scientists for clinical studies. “We could not be more excited to see Astek raise this financing and come one step closer to realizing their vision for their life-saving diagnostic platform,” said Greg Simmons, vice president for Institutional Advancement at UMBC. “Mustafa has been a valued member of the UMBC community for a long time – first as a student where he developed his technology, and now as an entrepreneur partnering with our technology transfer team and other UMBC partners. We look forward to continuing to be a part of Astek’s journey towards improving health outcomes.”
To learn more, visit astekdx.com