MeMed Diagnostics

The problem: unnecessary antibiotics, because it is hard to tell

Bacterial and viral infections often look the same clinically (fever, fatigue, pain), but only the first responds to antibiotics. The tendency to "play it safe" and prescribe antibiotics even when suspicion of bacteria is low contributes to the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one of the main global threats to medicine. MeMed, founded by Dr. Eran Eden and Kfir Oved at the Technion in 2009, chose a different approach: instead of looking for the pathogen itself, the test reads the body's immune system response.

MeMed BV: FDA clearance

In September 2021 the company received FDA 510(k) clearance for the MeMed BV test on the MeMed Key platform, for distinguishing between bacterial and viral infection in both children and adults. The clearance was based on a multi-center clinical validation study of more than 1,000 patients, which showed an accuracy (Area Under the Curve) of 90% and 97% on the primary and secondary study endpoints. The test measures three immune proteins (TRAIL, IP-10, CRP) and produces a result within 15 minutes.

"It has been a decade long journey to reach this point from concept to impacting patient lives," said Dr. Eran Eden, MeMed's CEO and co-founder, in the clearance announcement.

Funding and product development

In January 2022 MeMed raised $93 million, bringing its total funding to more than $200 million, including support from the US Department of Defense (DoD) and the European Commission. In March 2026 the company also received a Breakthrough Device Designation from the FDA for MeMed BV Flex, a new version designed for a capillary blood sample (from a finger prick), compared with the whole blood sample required by the earlier versions.