We are pleased to announce that Axithra has joined Metheion as a Technical Recruiting partner.
Bringing photonics with precision diagnostics
Getting the right medication dosage to the right patient at the right time remains a significant challenge in modern medicine. The concentration of a drug in a patient's bloodstream can vary considerably depending on individual physiology, disease conditions, and the body's metabolism. For critically ill patients, these variations can have serious consequences, making accurate and timely drug monitoring particularly important.
Traditional therapeutic drug monitoring methods often rely on centralized laboratory equipment and time-consuming analytical procedures. This can make it difficult for healthcare professionals to obtain actionable results quickly enough to adjust treatment as a patient's condition changes.
Axithra is developing a new diagnostic platform designed to address this challenge. Combining proprietary optics and photonics technology with Raman spectroscopy, the company aims to measure drug concentrations directly in blood samples and deliver clinically actionable results at the point of need.
A particularly important aspect of its technology is the ability to measure the free, pharmacologically active fraction of drugs rather than simply their total concentration. This provides physicians with information intended to support more accurate and personalized dosing decisions.
From photonics research to medical diagnostics
Founded in 2023 as a spin-off from Ghent University and imec, Axithra brings together expertise in photonics, microelectronics, biomedical research, and medical diagnostics.
The company's technology builds on Raman spectroscopy, an analytical technique that identifies molecules through their characteristic interactions with laser light. By translating these molecular fingerprints into quantitative measurements, Axithra is developing a platform for rapid therapeutic drug monitoring in complex biological samples.
Its initial application focuses on monitoring β-lactam antibiotics in intensive care units (ICUs). These antibiotics are widely used to treat severe bacterial infections, but achieving the appropriate drug concentration can be challenging in critically ill patients whose physiology changes rapidly.
Axithra's longer-term ambition extends beyond its initial application. Its adaptable technology platform is designed to support therapeutic drug monitoring across additional drug classes and medical applications, potentially including oncology.
Backed to advance the next generation of medical diagnostics
Axithra has attracted substantial support from the European deep-tech and life sciences investment ecosystem. In September 2023, the company announced a €10 million seed funding round led by imec.xpand and co-led by Kurma Partners. The investment syndicate also included Qbic, Noshaq, White Fund, Wallonie Entreprendre, Hamamatsu Photonics, and Werfen.
The financing supports the development and validation of Axithra's technology, helping the company progress from photonics research and laboratory prototypes towards clinical applications and eventual commercialization.
Metheion will support Axithra with technical recruiting across
Laboratory Automation Engineers
Specialists in automated laboratory workflows, sample handling, liquid handling systems, process automation, and diagnostic instrument integration.Automation Software Engineers
Engineers developing instrument control software, automated workflows, data acquisition, process monitoring, and hardware interfaces.Systems Integration Engineers
Specialists in integrating optical, electronic, mechanical, fluidic, and software subsystems into automated diagnostic instruments.Instrumentation Engineers
Engineers responsible for sensor integration, measurement systems, calibration, signal acquisition, and automated analytical equipment.Microfluidics Engineers
Specialists in fluid handling, automated sample preparation, microfluidic devices, lab-on-a-chip systems, and liquid dispensing.Photonics Engineers
Engineers experienced in optical systems, laser technology, photonic components, light detection, and optical measurement systems.Raman Spectroscopy Specialists
Scientists and engineers experienced in Raman spectroscopy, spectral acquisition, molecular fingerprinting, signal interpretation, and quantitative analysis.Biomedical Engineers
Engineers developing automated diagnostic instruments, laboratory technologies, sample processing systems, and medical measurement platforms.
The challenge is turning molecular measurements into clinically actionable results
Developing a new diagnostic technology involves much more than demonstrating that a measurement principle works in a laboratory. A clinically useful platform must deliver accurate, reproducible, and meaningful results under real-world conditions, using complex biological samples and workflows that healthcare professionals can readily adopt.
For Axithra, this means solving several interconnected scientific and engineering challenges.
Detecting molecular signals in complex biological samples. Blood and plasma contain numerous compounds that can interfere with analytical measurements. Extracting the specific molecular fingerprint of a target drug requires sophisticated optical detection, spectral analysis, and methods to distinguish relevant signals from background interference.
Measuring the pharmacologically active drug fraction. Total drug concentration does not necessarily reflect the amount of medication available to exert its therapeutic effect. Measuring the free fraction requires an analytical approach that can distinguish unbound drugs from those associated with proteins and other components in biological samples.
Achieving sensitivity and measurement accuracy. Raman spectroscopy generates molecular information through relatively subtle optical signals. The measurement system must combine appropriate laser excitation, optical collection, detector performance, signal processing, and calibration to achieve the sensitivity and quantitative accuracy required for clinical applications.
Sample preparation and workflow integration. A point-of-need diagnostic platform must reliably handle real biological samples. Sample preparation, fluid handling, measurement procedures, and instrument operation must work together to deliver consistent results without introducing unnecessary complexity into clinical workflows.
Reproducibility and clinical validation. Demonstrating promising results in laboratory experiments is only the beginning. The technology must establish reliable performance across different samples, drug concentrations, measurement conditions, and clinical environments. This requires rigorous analytical validation and clinical investigation.
Instrument integration and scalability. Translating a laboratory prototype into a practical diagnostic instrument requires integrating photonics, electronics, mechanics, fluidics, software, and measurement systems. The resulting platform must maintain performance while becoming sufficiently compact, reliable, cost-effective, and straightforward to operate.
These challenges cannot be solved independently. Improvements in optical sensitivity may introduce new requirements for signal processing, changes in sample preparation can affect measurement accuracy, and instrument miniaturization can introduce additional constraints on optical alignment and thermal stability.
Developing a successful diagnostic platform therefore requires a multidisciplinary team capable of understanding how the underlying physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering interact.
Finding talent across photonics, chemistry, and biomedical engineering
Axithra operates at the intersection of several highly specialized disciplines, and the most relevant candidates may come from seemingly different industries. This is what makes technical recruiting for them particularly interesting.
Some candidates will have extensive experience in Raman spectroscopy or photonic measurement systems but limited exposure to biological samples. Others may have spent years developing analytical instruments, medical devices, or microfluidic systems without working directly with therapeutic drug monitoring.
Similarly, engineers from semiconductor photonics, optical instrumentation, analytical chemistry, or biomedical research may possess highly transferable expertise, even if their previous job titles do not directly match the requirements of a medical diagnostics company.
The challenge is to identify where a candidate's technical expertise lies, understand the underlying principles of the technologies they have worked with, and determine whether their experience translates to specific med product development challenges.
At Metheion, we look beyond job titles and keyword matches to evaluate candidates against the actual scientific principles, engineering requirements, and technical challenges of the products they will work on.
We look forward to helping Axithra build the multidisciplinary engineering and scientific team needed to advance next-gen diagnostic technology and bring more personalized therapeutic drug monitoring closer to clinical practice.
