Hycult Biotech
We are excited to announce our participation in the new COMPASS project, funded by Health Holland. COMPASS brings together two academic medical centers and Hycult Biotech in a public-private partnership to develop reliable and standardized immunoassays that enable earlier detection of kidney diseases earlier and more effective monitoring of treatment responses. Kidney diseases caused by an overactive immune system are rare but serious and can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated in time.
COMPASS: Complement alternative pathway assays for standardized stratification and diagnosis of kidney diseases
Time period: 24 months
Partners:
- UMC Utrecht
- Radboudumc
Worldwide, thousands of patients live with immune-driven kidney diseases that often progress rapidly and can lead to kidney failure, dialysis, or transplantation. These conditions place a high burden on patients and healthcare systems, with long-term treatment costs running into tens of thousands of euros per patient per year. Although new medicines that target the immune system are becoming available, doctors currently lack reliable tests to determine which patients will benefit most and how well treatments are working. Existing tests vary widely between hospitals, leading to delayed diagnoses and less effective care. There is an urgent need for improved and standardized tests to ensure accurate, consistent, and accessible diagnosis. COMPASS addresses this challenge by developing a new generation of standardized blood tests that measure key immune system markers involved in kidney disease. The project combines fundamental research, clinical expertise, and industrial know-how to design tests that are robust, easy to use, and suitable for routine hospital practice. A key innovation is the use of carefully engineered reference materials or calibrators, which replace unstable patient samples and ensure that test results are comparable across laboratories.
The project will deliver validated laboratory tests and a rapid point-of-care test that supports immediate care decisions at the patients’ bedside. Together, these tools will support earlier diagnosis, better treatment monitoring, and more efficient use of expensive medicines, ultimately improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs.
Find out more about this project and our other ongoing and past projects.
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