Founded by Mustafa Al-Adhami after his grandfather’s painful UTI experience, Baltimore-based Astek Diagnostics develops the JIDDU medical diagnostic platform to confirm bacterial infections and indicate antibiotic sensitivity in about one hour. Its current focus is rapid UTI testing, with the company expanding the platform toward cerebrospinal fluid, wound effluent, and blood applications. A multidisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs has taken the technology from a whiteboard sketch to a functional, independently validated alpha product.
Prompt DiagnosticsBaltimore-based Prompt Diagnostics develops portable molecular diagnostic platforms that bring laboratory-quality PCR testing to the point of care, with results in under 20 minutes. Co-founded by biomedical engineer Alex Trick and Johns Hopkins professor Tza-Huei (Jeff) Wang, the company built its platform around magnetofluidic cartridge technology invented during Trick’s doctoral research. Prompt is applying that technology to infectious-disease testing, including work on HIV, syphilis, and drug-resistant gonorrhea in low-resource settings.BALTIMORE, MD
FyodorFounded by scientist and global health leader Dr. Eddy Agbo, Baltimore-based Fyodor is known for developing a urine-based malaria test that avoids the need for a blood sample. The company designs its diagnostic for people in malaria-affected regions, where an affordable test that can be used at home may make diagnosis easier to access.BALTIMORE, MD
Scanogen IncBaltimore-based Scanogen develops molecular diagnostic systems that detect infectious-disease biomolecules directly from body fluids, using its proprietary Single Molecule And Rapid Tethering (SMART) technology. The company is focused on a sample-to-answer platform for point-of-care testing, including an assay designed to identify bloodstream-infection pathogens from whole blood within two hours. Scanogen has received more than $20 million in NIH grants and collaborates with Johns Hopkins University and federal agencies in the Washington, D.C., area.BALTIMORE, MD
Pearl Diagnostics, IncBorn from a Johns Hopkins University spinout founded in 2014, Pearl Diagnostics develops in vitro diagnostic assays that help clinicians detect lung infections through microbial extracellular vesicles. The Baltimore company’s MycoMEIA Aspergillus Assay is its signature achievement: a non-invasive urine test that delivers results in about three hours and received FDA 510(k) clearance in 2025. Pearl Diagnostics is woman-owned and operates under an ISO 13485 quality system.BALTIMORE, MD