Health · Medical Research · 8 hrs ago
SpeeDx founders develop test to guide treatment of drug-resistant infections
Sydney scientists Alison Todd and Elisa Mokany founded SpeeDx to develop ways to fight antimicrobial resistance.
The company’s test checks whether a drug is likely to work before treatment and while it is underway, helping doctors choose more effective medicines.
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when drugs stop working against infections, allowing hard-to-treat “superbugs” to spread.
The World Health Organization estimates resistance is linked to about 4.7 million deaths each year, and forecasts that toll will almost double by 2050.
Guiding treatment could help curb unnecessary drug use, which threatens the effectiveness of medicines used in hospitals and other care.
The United States accounts for about 90% of SpeeDx’s business, and the company has received US National Institutes of Health backing as part of a wider effort against antimicrobial resistance.
SpeeDx founders Alison Todd and Elisa Mokany have developed a test to help guide treatment for drug-resistant infections.
The test is designed to check whether a drug will work before and during treatment.
The pair founded SpeeDx 16 years ago and have more than 100 patents between them.
The United States accounts for about 90% of SpeeDx’s business.
Todd and Mokany were named in The List: Top 100 Innovators 2026.
- Who
- SpeeDx founders Alison Todd and Elisa Mokany.
- What
- They developed a test to guide treatment by checking drug effectiveness before and during treatment.
- When
- The article was published on November 10, 2026. The test’s development date is not stated.
- Where
- The founders are a Sydney duo. The United States accounts for about 90% of SpeeDx’s business.
- Why
- The test aims to help combat drug-resistant infections and the overuse of medicines.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Alison Todd and Elisa Mokany founded SpeeDx.
Todd and Mokany were named in The List: Top 100 Innovators 2026.
Stockhead reported on their test for guiding treatment of drug-resistant infections.
- Founders
- Alison Todd and Elisa Mokany
- Company
- SpeeDx
- Patents
- More than 100 between the founders
- US share of business
- About 90%
- Recognition
- The List: Top 100 Innovators 2026
What people are saying
You don’t realise how much antibiotics are used every day. In hospitals, going to surgery, there is so much use of antibiotics. If we lost that … it would send us back to the dark ages,