Wiltshire’s Presymptom Health raises £1.5m to develop sepsis tests

Presymptom Health has raised £1.5 million in follow-on seed and grant funding as it looks to roll out its sepsis and infection tests to the NHS from mid-2025.

The Wiltshire-based MOD spinout recently had its test designated a ‘breakthrough’ medical device by the UK government under its £10 million Innovative Devices Access Program.

Its latest funding round includes investment from UKI2S, which provides seed funding to science and technology startups and SMEs; Ploughshare, which looks to find novel uses for government inventions; and MedtechToMarket.

Innovate UK provided additional funds through an Investor Partnership Grant.

The funding will help accelerate product development and support clinical trial activity, with the firm looking to secure UKCA accreditation by mid-2025.

Presymptom Health’s technology provides early information about infection status and severity in patients with non-specific symptoms, helping doctors make better treatment decisions.

The company’s tests can be run on NHS PCR platforms, which were widely deployed during the Covid pandemic and are now often underutilised.

By detecting true infection and sepsis earlier, it’s possible to save lives and significantly reduce the incorrect use of antibiotics.

In fact, data from The UK Sepsis Trust reveals that someone in the world dies from sepsis every three seconds. The condition affects 245,000 people in the UK every year – at least 48,000 of whom lose their lives.

Dr Iain Miller, CEO of Presymptom Health, said: “We’re confident that our first product can play a big part in tackling antimicrobial resistance, which has been identified by the WHO as one of the top 10 global public health threats.

“Sepsis diagnostics hasn’t moved on in more than a century, and currently doctors can only diagnose it when advanced symptoms and organ failure are present – which is often too late.

“Our technology enables doctors to diagnose both infection and sepsis up to three days before formal clinical diagnosis, radically transforming the process and preventing unnecessary deaths.

“We’ll initially roll out in the UK, but have plans for the US and beyond in the following years.

“We’re hoping to raise further funds over the course of this year and next to accelerate our plans even more.”