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08 August 2025

EDX Medical Group plc

AQSE: EDX

("EDX Medical" or the "Group" or "Company")

EDX MEDICAL PARTNERS WITH CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST & THE UK HEALTH SECURITY AGENCY TO PROVIDE NEW PNEUMONIA TEST

CAMBRIDGE, UK: EDX Medical Group plc, which develops innovative digital diagnostic products and services supporting personalised treatments for cancer, cardiovascular disease and infectious diseases, announces today the Company is to complete the development of a new pneumonia test for critically ill NHS patients.

EDX Medical will partner with the Intensive Care Unit at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to support the further advancement of a highly precise test that identifies the DNA or RNA of the microbes that cause lung infection in critically ill patients.  Once the test is completed the results will be read using digital technology and made available to ICU doctors in 60 seconds, removing the wait time for a manual test result. 

This public-private partnership, which also involves the University of Cambridge, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and Cambridge Enterprise, should mean the test is available for NHS patients this year.

The work, backed in the early stages by Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust (ACT), supports the Government's 10-year strategic plan for the NHS by deploying digital technology to bedside care to treat patients better and earlier. 

The test, developed on CUH's John Farman Intensive Care Unit, provides sensitive identification and quantification of the microbes (bacteria, fungi and viruses) that can cause chest infections in the critically ill, enabling rapid selection of the most effective treatment.

EDX Medical has licensed the intellectual property and clinical research for the test from Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) and Cambridge Enterprise and will undertake validation and further development work before supplying the completed test to Addenbrooke's Hospital and other hospitals within the CUH's catchment area. Subject to validation, CUH has also entered into a service agreement with EDX Medical to provide the assay for its critically ill patients for the next four years.

Community acquired pneumonias (CAP) and hospital acquired pneumonias (HAP) are common major life-threatening diseases that require rapid and accurate testing coupled to precision treatment.  HAPs alone cost the NHS an estimated £1.5 billion per year and take almost 1 million bed days from service, much of which can be avoided by early detections.  CAP is the commonest infectious reason for patients to be admitted to intensive care, and hospitalised cases are estimated to cost the NHS £731 million/year. Pandemic respiratory infections also occur on a cyclical basis, and being able to detect known pathogens and rapidly adapt assays to deal with emerging pathogens was critical during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. This rapid test capability will better equip the ICU for any future pandemics.

NHS England estimates suggest that in England alone each year 72,542 people develop hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), leading to 15,072 deaths and the avoidable loss of 459,755 hospital bed days annually. 83,000 patients are thought to develop CAP every year, with hospitalised cases accounting for 95% of the costs of this condition.

EDX Medical will, under an existing collaboration with global life sciences company, Thermo Fisher Scientific, also develop and validate a kit version of the test that can then be provided to other hospital and laboratories in the UK and Europe, subject to regulatory approval.

Professor Sir Chris Evans, founder of EDX Medical, said: "This is a massively important project which will result in a world class test that will demonstrate the immediate impact of new clinical diagnostics in frontline NHS hospitals, saving both lives and resources."

Dr Mike Hudson, CEO of EDX Medical said: "It's a great privilege to collaborate with the leading experts at Addenbrooke's and Cambridge University to make this test available as soon as possible for NHS patients in the UK."

Dr Vilas Navapurkar, Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia, Cambridge University Hospitals said: "As well as treating patients in Addenbrooke's Hospital, the CUH - EDX partnership will significantly improve the care of critically ill ICU patients across the UK and Europe. Building on our existing partnerships with the University of Cambridge and UKHSA demonstrates why Cambridge is uniquely positioned to advance healthcare in the future."

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors

Background

NHS England estimates based on data till 2023 suggest that in England alone each year 72,542 people develop hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), leading to 15,072 deaths and the avoidable loss of 459,755 hospital bed days annually.

A financial model produced by Manoukian et al in 2021 estimated that in NHS Scotland, the cost of a single HAP case was £13,024. Assuming the cost of a bed day in England is similar, we can estimate that the annual cost of HAP to NHS England is over £1 billion pa. (£1,073,302,630). The cost of HAI was extrapolated to the whole of the UK and is estimated to be £774million due to lost bed days and direct costs of £503million annually. The total cost of HAI was estimated to be 0.62% of the NHS total spending in the four UK nations in 2018 and associated with 968,000 lost bed-days annually. Campling and colleagues estimated the cost of hospitalised CAP to NHS England at £3904, whilst those requiring critical care cost £11,654 with a total cost estimated at £731million per year.  The costs of future pandemics are hard to estimate, but experience during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the costs of a lack of preparedness for rapid diagnostics in infectious diseases.  The ability to rapidly spot novel pathogens and to take appropriate actions are incalculable.

References:

NHS England: Policy-Project Report

Manoukian, S., Stewart, S., Graves, N., et al. (2021). Bed-days and costs associated with the inpatient burden of healthcare-associated infection in the UK. Journal of Hospital Infection, 114, 43-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2020.12.027

Campling J, Wright HF, Hall GC, Mugwagwa T, Vyse A, Mendes D, Slack MPE, Ellsbury GF. Hospitalization costs of adult community-acquired pneumonia in England. J Med Econ. 2022 Jan-Dec;25(1):912-918. doi: 10.1080/13696998.2022.2090734.

Contacts

Notes for Editors:

About EDX Medical Group plc

The EDX Medical Group plc is listed on the Apex Segment of the AQSE Growth Market (TIDM: EDX).

EDX Medical was founded by Professor Sir Christopher Evans, OBE, a medical and life sciences entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience, together with CEO, Dr Mike Hudson.

By translating clinical insights into pragmatic solutions combining advanced biological and digital technologies, EDX Medical seeks to cost effectively improve the detection and characterisation of disease to personalise treatment in a timely fashion. Early disease detection and biologically based personal treatment optimisation is considered to be the most impactful way of improving patient outcomes, reducing deaths and lowering the cost of healthcare globally.

EDX Medical Group provides doctors, hospitals and insurers/payers with access to a portfolio of the best clinical diagnostics products and services. The Company operates its own facilities in Cambridge and Oxford, UK, and has strategic product and technology partnerships with organisations such as Thermo Fisher EMEA Ltd, a world leader in supplying life sciences solutions and services.

www.edxmedical.com

About Cambridge Enterprise

Cambridge Enterprise is the innovation arm of the University of Cambridge. Through Cambridge Enterprise, University of Cambridge research and expertise continues to deliver life-changing outcomes with world-changing impact. We provide the diverse support needed by researchers, innovators and talented teams tackling the challenges facing the world today.  We connect, empower and enable the transformation of Cambridge research into purposeful social and economic global impacts.