Posted: 17 February 2026
Nutromics has reported the completion of the world’s first clinical trial of electrochemical aptamer sensors used for the continuous monitoring of a drug molecule in situ in humans.
The small-scale clinical trial has evaluated a wearable skin patch that accurately recorded the concentration of the antibiotic vancomycin in the dermal interstitial fluid at five-minute intervals. The technology has been described as having the potential to help doctors monitor drug levels in patients to prevent serious side-effects.
The platform has been developed from research led by Kevin Plaxco at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Electronic aptamer sensors have been engineered for the continuous monitoring of a variety of molecules in body fluids. Aptamers, the DNA equivalent of antibodies, can be produced to specifically recognise any small molecule target. Combined with an electronic readout mechanism for this binding event, the approach has enabled the development of a general platform capable of detecting small molecules in serum.
Earlier preclinical studies have included the implantation of sensors into live rats in 2017 to monitor levels of the cancer drug doxorubicin or the antibiotic kanamycin while the animals moved normally. Following multiple additional studies involving sensors against dozens of different molecules, the research has progressed to human evaluation.
Working with the clinical research group of Sophie Stocker at the University of Sydney, Plaxco and colleagues at the Australian company Nutromics have completed the first clinical trial of this technology in humans.
The device has incorporated minimally invasive, 3mm-long needles integrated into a wearable patch that penetrates the skin to perform measurements in the dermal interstitial fluid found between skin cells and blood vessels. “Although driven by distinctly different – and more easily generalisable – chemistry, the form factor of the patches closely resembles that of the continuous glucose monitors that many people with diabetes employ to measure their blood sugar,” Plaxco said.
