Sept. 30, 2024—MeMed announced the completion of its first randomized controlled trial to evaluate the MeMed BV test in the United States. Results from this trial demonstrate the clinical utility of the MeMed BV test in promoting appropriate antibiotic use, highlighting its potential to improve patient outcomes and optimize health care decision-making. “This achievement is a critical step toward making MeMed BV the standard for distinguishing bacterial from viral infections and advancing efforts to expand reimbursement coverage,” according to a company press statement. A preliminary analysis of data from this trial was presented at the American College of Emergency Physicians annual scientific assembly, ACEP24, in Las Vegas, Sept. 29–Oct. 2.
The JUNO trial was conducted across 11 emergency departments and urgent care centers in the U.S. and Israel. It enrolled 260 adult patients with clinical suspicion of lower respiratory tract infection. The first small-scale analysis of data from the trial, which focused on a subgroup of 160 patients, was presented at ACEP24 by Adam Singer, MD, vice chairman for research and professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University. The study demonstrated a 62 percent relative reduction in unnecessary antibiotic prescription rates—33 percent in the control group versus 13 percent in the MeMed BV group (P=0.003). Follow-up data indicated no significant increase in the rate of return of emergency department and urgent care center visits within seven days, with 4.7 percent in the control group compared with 3.8 percent in the MeMed BV group.