Axithra

Axithra operates from Ghent, Belgium, with a multidisciplinary team spanning photonics, biomedical sciences, analytical chemistry, and medical-device development. The company raised a €10 million seed round in September 2023, led by imec.xpand and Kurma Partners, with participation from Qbic, Noshaq, White Fund, Wallonie Entreprendre, Hamamatsu Photonics, and Werfen Diagnostics. In 2024, Axithra also received a €1.5 million VLAIO grant, bringing its disclosed seed financing and grant support to €11.5 million.

The company has developed a laboratory proof-of-concept prototype and is advancing its technology through further product development and clinical investigation.

Axithra is developing a rapid therapeutic drug monitoring platform based on chip-integrated Raman spectroscopy. The system analyses blood plasma samples to identify and quantify specific drugs, with a particular focus on measuring the free, pharmacologically active fraction rather than just the total drug concentration.

The platform uses laser light to detect molecular signatures via Raman scattering and translates these measurements into drug concentration estimates. Its proprietary detection method is designed to analyze complex biological samples and distinguish the active drug fraction from other components in blood.

The objective is to provide accurate drug concentration measurements within a clinically useful timeframe, enabling healthcare professionals to make dosing decisions at the point of care rather than relying exclusively on conventional laboratory testing.

Axithra targets the therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) market, where healthcare professionals need to measure drug concentrations in individual patients to optimize treatment effectiveness and minimize toxicity. Drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination vary significantly among individuals, so standard dosing protocols do not always achieve the desired therapeutic concentration.

The company's initial focus is on antibiotic monitoring in intensive care units, particularly β-lactam antibiotics. Critically ill patients often experience rapid changes in kidney function, metabolism, and drug distribution, causing substantial fluctuations in antibiotic concentrations. Insufficient exposure can lead to treatment failure and antimicrobial resistance, while excessive concentrations can cause toxicity. Axithra aims to enable rapid measurement of the free, pharmacologically active antibiotic fraction, allowing clinicians to adjust dosages based on individual patient needs.

Beyond its initial antibiotic application, Axithra's platform has potential applications in oncology and antifungal treatment. Chemotherapy drugs such as 5-fluorouracil, kinase inhibitors, and taxanes can exhibit significant variations in patient exposure, making individualized drug monitoring valuable for optimizing treatment. Similarly, monitoring antifungal concentrations can help ensure sufficient drug exposure while reducing the risk of toxicity and treatment failure.

Further applications include monitoring patient medication adherence and supporting pharmaceutical research and drug development, where accurate drug concentration measurements can help assess treatment response, dosing requirements, and pharmacokinetics.

Axithra's core technology is Waveguide-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (WERS), implemented using integrated photonics and photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Unlike conventional Raman spectroscopy, which typically uses free-space optics to illuminate and analyze a sample, Axithra uses a photonic waveguide integrated onto a chip to guide laser light through the sensing region.

The chip incorporates a spiral-shaped photonic waveguide that creates an extended optical interaction path within a compact footprint. As laser light propagates through the waveguide, its evanescent electromagnetic field extends into the surrounding blood plasma sample, exciting molecules through light-matter interactions. These molecules scatter light through the Raman effect, producing wavelength shifts characteristic of their molecular structure. Part of this Raman-scattered light couples back into the waveguide and is collected for spectral analysis, allowing the identification and quantification of specific drug molecules through their molecular fingerprints.

The extended interaction length increases the interaction between light and the sample, improving Raman signal generation and collection. This is particularly important when detecting low drug concentrations in complex biological fluids such as blood plasma.

Axithra combines integrated photonics, waveguide engineering, evanescent-field Raman sensing, optical design, laser systems, spectroscopy, and signal processing. Its broader platform also involves microfluidics and sample handling, optical instrumentation, detection electronics, and analytical methods that enable the measurement of the free, pharmacologically active fraction of drugs.

Therapeutic drug monitoring can improve treatment outcomes by helping healthcare professionals determine whether patients receive sufficient medication to achieve the desired therapeutic effect without exposing them to unnecessarily high concentrations.

However, conventional methods such as mass spectrometry and immunoassays often require specialized laboratory equipment, sample preparation, and trained personnel. Their cost and turnaround time make frequent bedside measurements difficult to implement in routine clinical workflows.

Axithra aims to address this limitation by bringing drug concentration measurements closer to the point of care. Its chip-based Raman spectroscopy platform is designed to deliver rapid measurements directly from blood plasma samples, including the pharmacologically active fraction of the drug. This could enable more frequent monitoring and faster adjustments to treatment, particularly for critically ill patients whose drug requirements can change rapidly.

The technology has broader potential across antibiotic treatment, oncology, antifungal therapy, and clinical drug development. By integrating photonics and semiconductor-based sensing with biomedical analysis, Axithra aims to make personalized drug monitoring faster, more accessible, and more economically viable.

Metheion supports Axithra in recruiting engineers and scientists to develop, test, validate, and industrialize its photonic diagnostic platform.

The recruitment scope includes Photonics Engineers, Optical Engineers, Raman Spectroscopy Specialists, Photonic Integrated Circuit Engineers, Laser Systems Engineers, Optical Design Engineers, Spectroscopy Scientists, Biomedical Scientists, Bioanalytical Scientists, Assay Development Scientists, Analytical Chemists, Systems Engineers, Instrumentation Engineers, Electronics Engineers, Embedded Software Engineers, Signal Processing Engineers, Microfluidics Engineers, Mechanical Design Engineers, Product Development Engineers, and Verification and Validation Engineers.

Metheion focuses on identifying specialists with the scientific knowledge and practical engineering experience required to translate advanced photonics and biomedical research into a functional medical diagnostic instrument. This includes optical and photonic system development, spectroscopy and assay development, hardware and software integration, analytical performance testing, prototype development, clinical validation, manufacturing engineering, and preparation for regulated medical-device production.