Meet the Member: Danuta Cichocka & Resistell

Resistell was ranked 8th in the Top 100 of the Swiss StartUp Awards 2020 ; last week they came in 2nd place and received the special prize "Life Sciences" as part of the Swiss Innovation Challenge 2020 .

1. How did Resistell come about?

We created Resistell to develop a test to help physicians around the world to find the right antibiotic in time. We also want to contribute to the fight against Antimicrobial Resistance. 

2. Could you give us a short overview of Resistell?

Resistell proposes an alternative to current antibiotic susceptibility tests (AST) which are also known as antibiograms. Currently, phenotypic ASTs take up to several days, which is too late for the evidence based decision making. Resistell is able to deliver AST results within a few hours, based on measurement of vibrations of living bacteria using micromechanical sensors. As this cutting-edge technology does not rely on bacterial growth, patients can be treated with the optimal medication from day one.

3. What makes Resistell future-oriented?

Before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was already one of the biggest global health challenges. In many countries, patients hospitalized with COVID-19 receive antimicrobial therapies as part of the standard clinical care package. Excessive and arbitrary use of these powerful medicines triggers the development of multidrug resistance. This leads to higher costs for the healthcare system and more deaths due to resistance of bacteria.

4. Resistell is a company founded and based in Basel. What do you particularly appreciate about this region?

The region offers excellent infrastructure, access to an excellent talent pool and global industry.