By Trine Reinholt Andersen, AAU Technology Transfer Office

Bloodstream infections represent a significant global health challenge due to their high morbidity and mortality rates. These infections occur when pathogens such as bacteria, fungi, or viruses enter the bloodstream, potentially leading to sepsis, organ failure, or death if not treated swiftly and accurately. In the EU alone, there are 3.4 million sepsis cases and 700,000 related deaths per year.

Some of the major challenges in managing bloodstream infections include the diversity of causative pathogens, the rise of antibiotic resistance, and the often-non-specific symptoms that make early diagnosis difficult.

Diagnosing these infections typically involves blood culture testing, which remains the gold standard, however, this method is time-consuming, taking 24–72 hours to yield results, and has limitations in sensitivity. Overcoming these challenges is critical for improving patient outcomes through timely and targeted therapies. 

DRAMATICALLY IMPROVING BLOODSTREAM INFECTION DIAGNOSTICS

Based on several years of research, Professor Mads Albertsen and a team of researchers from the Department of Chemistry and Bioscience at Aalborg University have developed a metagenomic DNA sequencing approach providing a faster and more sensitive diagnosis to bloodstream infections than the current gold-standard. The groundbreaking solution is called SepSeeQ. 

SepSeeQ can diagnose any causative microorganism in a bloodstream infection in less than 6 hours with higher sensitivity than current methods. Coupled with machine learning models based on time/location specific pathogen databases, the solution also enables prediction of antibiotic resistance profiles.

A BENEFIT FOR PATIENT OUTCOMES AND SOCIETY

Currently, patients suspected of sepsis are treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics upon admission, as delaying effective treatment beyond 24 hours reduces the survival rate from 80% to 10%. However, in 20% of cases, these antibiotics fail to target the causative pathogen, significantly raising the risk of complications and mortality. Therefore, rapid pathogen identification is crucial.

SepSeeQ is validated in a clinical study at Aalborg University Hospital, where the researchers found the solution to have superior sensitivity. 

Combined with the speed of the results, SepSeeQ can be used to guide and correct the antibiotic treatment to improve patient outcomes significantly. Furthermore, it can facilitate antibiotic stewardship by reducing the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics to decrease the development of antimicrobial resistance and thus, benefit society.

SUPPORTED WITH A BIO STUDIO GRANT FROM BII

In 2025, the innovative solution was selected to participate in the Bio Innovation Institute's (BII) Bio Studio program. The prestigious innovation program is designed to help world-leading scientists transform their academic research into market-ready products and solutions. It provides support for projects with a grant of up to 3 million euros over a three-year period. 

With the BII grant, the team’s main objective is to develop a diagnostics platform for SepSeeQ for rapid microbial identification enabling enhanced antimicrobial treatment and stewardship.

THE COMMERCIALIZATION PROCESS

SepSeeQ is based on research by Professor Mads Albertsen and PhD fellow Morten Eneberg Nielsen from the Department of Chemistry and Bioscience at Aalborg University. The initial research project that created the foundation to SepSeeQ was originally funded by Independent Research Fund Denmark with DKK 2,9 million.

Based on SepSeeQ and future technologies, the goal is to establish a spin-out in the coming years called SeeQ diagnostics. To strengthen the research team towards the establishment of a spin-out, the AAU Technology Transfer Office has supported the team with two successful applications; an InnoExplorer grant from Innovation Fund Denmark and the BioInnovation (BII) Bio Studio Program.