CARB-X awards $2.85 million to QuantaMatrix’s neonatal sepsis diagnostic platform

Boston, August 28, 2025 –
CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator) has announced a funding award of $2.85 million USD to South Korean diagnostics company QuantaMatrix Inc. to support the development of a rapid diagnostic platform for neonatal sepsis.

The innovative platform aims to deliver diagnostic results within six hours using just 1–2 mL of blood, a significant improvement over current diagnostic methods that can take several days. This breakthrough has the potential to dramatically improve survival rates, as neonatal sepsis—a life-threatening condition responsible for an estimated 2.5 million deaths annually—sees the risk of death increase by 7.6% for every hour treatment is delayed.

QuantaMatrix is building this platform based on its proprietary QMAP One-pot Assay, alongside rapid culturing and minimal sample pre-processing technologies. The new platform represents the next generation of rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing (uRAST), following the company’s existing dRAST™ product, with plans for global market expansion.

Through this funding, CARB-X aims to improve diagnostic accessibility in the technically challenging field of neonatal sepsis and contribute to the broader fight against antimicrobial resistance. The project is one of 10 selected in the first funding cycle of CARB-X’s 2024 round, and it is expected to advance toward global clinical development and commercialization.