Dr Sean Parsons

Northern Region National Finalist

In 2009 during the Swine Flu pandemic, Brisbane born-and-raised Dr Sean Parsons was working in the emergency department of a Queensland hospital when he recognised the need for a faster, simpler and more accurate way to diagnose highly infectious diseases.

An 18-year-old patient had been in the emergency waiting room for four hours with flu symptoms when Sean swabbed his throat and took the sample to the hospital’s onsite laboratory. He asked to watch the technicians complete the half-hour test process, which came back positive for H1N1, also known as Swine Flu. How many people had the young man unwittingly infected during his long wait?

Later in the outbreak, Sean encountered another young man on life support, also with H1N1. Had he been able to self-diagnose his symptoms, he could have accessed treatment much earlier and likely avoided hospital.

Sean founded Ellume with a mission to develop simple home tests for common infectious diseases to help reduce the burden on the community, the healthcare system and deliver better clinical outcomes for patients through rapid self-diagnosis. Since 2010, Ellume has invested heavily in R&D on a range of rapid diagnostic tests using novel detection technology which integrates optics, electronics, biologics and software into an intuitive and digital platform, making the tests both simple for patients and powerful tools for public health.

In 2013, Ellume began earning the trust of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), working with the regulatory agency to establish a pathway for a rapid home flu test. When COVID-19 appeared in 2020, Ellume set to work on a rapid test for the coronavirus. In December 2021, the Ellume COVID-19 Home Test was the first of its kind to receive FDA emergency-use authorisation. By the following February, Ellume had secured a US$231.8m contract with U.S. Government contract to accelerate U.S. production of its COVID-19 home tests.

Investment in the core science has been significant and Ellume has already been awarded nine patents, with its innovations recognised by TIME magazine and Popular Science. Work continues at its Brisbane headquarters on new rapid tests for more infectious diseases as the company strives to create the next generation of digital diagnostics for consumers and healthcare professionals.

Sean’s ambition for Ellume to be a global leader in healthtech is well on its way.