Deep-tech diagnostics · Abu Dhabi

Detecting antibiotic resistance in minutes, not days.

AstraSense is building a rapid, label-free diagnostic platform that reads the living metabolism of bacteria with light — so the right antibiotic can be chosen before resistance spreads.

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The opportunity

The world's fastest-rising health threat has a speed problem.

Antimicrobial resistance is outpacing the tools used to diagnose it. Today, confirming which antibiotic will work still takes days — so treatment begins as an educated guess, and resistance keeps spreading.

48–72 h
Typical wait for a susceptibility result with conventional testing
1.27 M
Deaths attributable to bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019
Top 10
A leading global public-health threat, as recognised by the WHO
Our approach

We turn a faint biological signal into a fast, clear answer.

Living bacteria carry a natural optical signature of their metabolism. AstraSense reads and amplifies that signature with light — distinguishing active cells from inactive ones, and revealing how bacteria respond to antibiotics far faster than growth-based testing allows.

Label-free

Reads an intrinsic signal from the cells themselves — no stains, dyes, or added reagents.

Rapid

Designed to deliver an answer in a fraction of the time that culture-based testing requires.

Point-of-care

A platform built to move from the central laboratory toward the bedside, where speed matters most.

Progressing from a validated laboratory concept toward a point-of-care test for antibiotic resistance.
Why now

The moment for rapid resistance testing has arrived.

01

Resistance is accelerating

Hard-to-treat, multidrug-resistant infections are spreading faster than new antibiotics can be developed.

02

The technology is ready

Advances in photonics and microfluidics have matured and fallen in cost, making compact, fast diagnostics feasible.

03

Health systems reward speed

Antibiotic-stewardship programmes actively favour faster, evidence-based prescribing decisions.

04

The category is proven, the field open

Early rapid tests have validated demand — yet no approach has defined the standard of care.

Our vision
A world where no patient waits days for the right antibiotic — where infections are matched to effective treatment in minutes.

Our mission is to read the living metabolism of bacteria with light — delivering rapid, label-free detection of infection and antibiotic resistance, and moving susceptibility testing from the central laboratory to the point of care.

Leadership

Founded by a scientist-operator in diagnostics.

Founder & CTO

Dr. Palat K. Menon

A physician-scientist in medical microbiology with a track record of building diagnostics from the bench to manufacturing. Founder of AstraGene Group — the UAE's first molecular-diagnostics manufacturer — with deep experience across the science, production, and regulation of in-vitro diagnostics.

MDPhD, Medical MicrobiologyMBAUCLA Post-doctoral FellowFogarty Fellow

We are assembling a multidisciplinary founding team across photonics, microbiology, and engineering as the company grows.

Built in the UAE

Manufacturing heritage

Drawing on AstraGene Group's established GMP / ISO 13485 diagnostics manufacturing base.

Academic research

Developed in collaboration with university research partners in photonics and microbiology.

Based in Abu Dhabi

Building the company and its team in Abu Dhabi's growing life-sciences ecosystem.

Let's talk.

We welcome conversations with investors, clinical and research partners, and people who want to help bring rapid resistance testing to the point of care.

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