DNTech develops new technology for pathogen detection in the food industry

As part of their vocational degree in bio-industries and biotechnology at Université Paris-Saclay, Amandine Lancelot and her collaborator, who wishes to remain anonymous, developed a project called BacterioDec in 2020. Their objective was to design a rapid, sensitive and affordable detection kit for quality control in the agri-food industry. " We didn't aim to create our own company at the end of our degree because we wanted to continue our studies. We also wanted to avoid rushing into things and instead validate a number of points in order to prove the desirability and feasibility of our concept and give it a degree of legitimacy, while also checking that everything was achievable within three to four years of starting up, " explains Amandine Lancelot. For two years the partners fine-tuned the vision of their concept, while gradually making a name for themselves. Amandine Lancelot focused on the scientific side, by developing their technology, while her collaborator worked on the business side by prospecting for potential customers, performing market research, etc.

Right from the start they were part of the Shaker biotech innovation programme at the Genopole research centre in Évry-Courcouronnes, in a space dedicated to start-up projects. They have access to offices, laboratories and training in business creation. Since 2021 the duo has participated in trade fairs and competitions to finance their work. The DNTech start-up was born in November 2022, after acquiring support from Sorbonne University's Pépite programme. The following year, the fledgling company won the Women Entrepreneurs Boston programme at Paris-Saclay, which promotes the participation of women in tech professions. In 2023, DNTech won the Forum Labo Start-Up Challenge. Forum Labo is a trade fair dedicated to laboratory-based innovation. Finally, DNTech was a Spring 50 finalist during the Paris-Saclay Spring event in 2024 and a national finalist in the Tech for Future competition.

The company has now received non-dilutive funding and been qualified as a Deep Tech start-up. " We have achieved initial laboratory results on different food matrices and segmented our target market with the help of an interest-free loan from the Île-de-France regional authorities and a subsidy from Bpifrance. Some of our work is also funded by competitions ," explains Amandine Lancelot. DNTech's development is not just the work of the two people who founded the company, but also three other employees.

Facilitating microbiological checks

The DNTech solution consists of a portable detection machine which is the size of a small microwave, accompanied by reagents which are essential for identifying bacteria such as E.coli, Salmonella, Listeria, etc. It is intended to be used by quality control laboratories in production plants that manufacture foodstuffs with a short use-by date, where rapid product release is an important issue. " With around ten contaminated products leaving factories every day, our aim is to detect pathogens in a matter of hours rather than the usual three days or more," explains the CEO.

Today, the food industry invests several hundred thousand euros in microbiological analyses which meet European requirements and the reference methods described in ISO standards. Food safety analyses are based on bacterial culture, with technicians taking 25g from each batch and culturing it for 18 hours. It is during this period of time, which is known as the pre-enrichment stage, that bacteria proliferate. The pre-enriched sample is then placed on a petri dish and incubated. After three days the manufacturer is able to determine whether or not its batches contain pathogens.

« "These release tests take a very long time and are sometimes unreliable. The batch has to be stored until the laboratory provides results. The analysis report is therefore a kind of authorisation for the release of products on the market. The problem is that more and more laboratories are finding it difficult to keep up with the pace of testing, due to the increasing number of checks required by the regulations. As a result, ISO methods are becoming incompatible with the accelerating pace of industry. Bacterial culture tests also generate a lot of biological waste that is difficult to treat. Our process involves adding the sample to the reagents in the DNTech kit at the pre-enrichment stage, after which it is analysed by the automated system. The fact that results are available in less than two hours means manufacturers can release their goods the same day," Amandine explains.

The automated system, developed by the start-up, uses various molecular biology, biochemistry and chemistry methods to determine whether or not the sample contains pathogen DNA. " What sets us apart from our competitors are the ergonomics and the human-machine interface. People who use our technology do not need to be specialists in molecular biology. The new techniques which are becoming available on the market are based on PCR, but require users to have knowledge of how to use them and interpret the results. Our approach involves concentrating on the user experience to make things as simple as possible, without taking anything away from the know-how and skills of technicians as microbiologists. We also want to improve test security. Our solution limits exposure to pathogens because the machine is hermetically sealed," explains the co-founder.

A product on the market in two years

DNTech's technology is currently at the development stage. The proof of concept has been approved and the team has already successfully carried out analyses on beef, poultry and yoghurts. " Before we can bring our product to market, we need to carry out additional tests to validate its performance. The reproducibility of the results will allow the accurate detection of pathogens," adds Amandine Lancelot. The team estimates that it will take another two years before their solution is available for sale. DNTech is targeting the French market first, before expanding throughout Europe, where regulations and standards are identical. Although the company is currently concentrating on products with short use-by dates, it plans to offer its technology to all food industries, in other words seafood, vegetables, drinks, dried foods, etc.

« Our vision is to democratise new pathogen detection technologies which are used in the agri-food sector. Microbiology laboratories are under pressure to do more, faster and without any method to match this dynamic. We want to shine a spotlight on this sector, which is currently struggling with tough regulations and pressure to produce more while polluting less. We can't reduce the risk of contamination to zero, but we can reduce it drastically, without changing the manufacturer's routine and while improving the user's approach. Our R&D is user-centred. The fact that we used to be technicians means we are very familiar with the problems that might arise in a laboratory setting. So our technology is created by operational people, for operational people," Amandine Lancelot concludes.