It was precisely this idea that led Dr Andreja Ambriović Ristov and Dr Dragomira Majhen, scientists at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, to develop VirusHunter, a patented diagnostic method that turns this problem on its head. Instead of searching for a predefined virus, VirusHunter uses universal VirusHunter baits that capture any potentially pathogenic virus present in a sample, including previously unknown ones. After capture comes identification, with the goal of providing an answer about the causative virus within 24 hours in a single test, without requiring the doctor to guess in advance what they are dealing with.
How do the baits catch viruses?
“We created universal baits that capture any virus without us having to define in advance which virus we are capturing,” explains Dragomira, Senior Scientist at the Ruđer Bošković Institute and one of the two inventors of the method. The design of these baits is the core of the patented technology and what sets VirusHunter apart from existing diagnostic approaches. The doctor does not have to form a hypothesis about which virus might be involved. It is enough to take a sample and let the VirusHunter baits do their work.
From fundamental research to patent
Behind VirusHunter lie some twenty years of fundamental research into virus biology. Both inventors built their careers studying how viruses infect cells. Andreja is a Senior Scientist in permanent position and head of the Laboratory for Cell Biology and Signal Transduction, and she completed her PhD on adenoviral vector vaccines, which 25 years later became a tool used in vaccination. Dragomira specializes in adenoviral vectors, particularly adenovirus type 26, the first approved adenoviral vector for vaccination, and she also has experience in the biotechnology industry.
This accumulated knowledge of the mechanisms viruses use to enter cells formed the foundation on which VirusHunter was created. “I always thought that we place everything under one common denominator, as if it were one single category of viruses, but that simply is not the case. I kept thinking about how to design a test that would detect all viruses in a sample, rather than forcing us to look for them one by one,” explains Ambriović Ristov.
The idea took concrete shape in 2016 through a project in which, alongside the inventors, Alen Kovačević also participated, then an undergraduate student and today a co-author of the patent. Several years of quiet followed because there were no projects to which the research could be submitted, but the work on securing the patent never stopped. With the support of the Ruđer Bošković Institute, the patent was granted in July 2025.
From the laboratory to the market
After securing the patent, the team moved toward commercialization. The inventors went through training in Nuqleus, the deep tech venture builder programme of the Nikola Tesla Innovation Centre, licensed the patent from the Ruđer Bošković Institute, and founded the company BioDetect Solutions j.d.o.o. At the end of 2025, they took part in the Tech Transfer acceleration programme of the Zagreb Innovation Centre, ZICER, where they learned how to structure their story in a way that investors, not only scientists, could understand. At the Zagreb Connect conference, they won third place and 5,000 euros.
VirusHunter is currently at Technology Readiness Level 4, TRL4, meaning the methodology works under laboratory conditions for several different viruses, and it has also been successful on a smaller number of clinical samples. The team is now intensively working on optimizing the VirusHunter baits, which are crucial for the sensitivity and reliability of the test. If everything goes according to plan, the first testing in a real clinical setting could begin in 2027. However, the road to a commercial product is still long, because diagnostic tests must go through regulatory procedures and obtain the necessary certifications.
Broader applications
Although the primary goal is to develop a test for detecting respiratory viruses in clinical diagnostics, the application does not have to stop there. VirusHunter could also be used in veterinary medicine for the early detection of viral diseases, in the surveillance of zoonoses, that is, diseases transmitted from animals to humans, in biosafety, and in monitoring viral diversity in the environment. One particularly interesting possibility is the detection of completely unknown viruses, which could make early warning of potential epidemics possible.
The team believes that the existence of a universal diagnostic test could also encourage the development of antiviral drugs. When the diagnosis of a viral infection is fast and reliable, the conditions are in place for targeted therapy, and the unnecessary use of antibiotics is reduced, antibiotics that are still often prescribed today when the cause of an infection has not been clearly established.
What exactly will VirusHunter deliver?
VirusHunter is not yet a finished product. The team still faces optimization, clinical testing, regulatory hurdles, and the search for investment. Alongside Andreja and Dragomira, the team includes Dr Jelena Martinčić, Dr Mario Stojanović, Dr Lucija Ružić, and Ana Runtić, MSc in Molecular Biology, experts in biophysics, biochemistry, materials biotechnology, and molecular diagnostics.
But if the method proves to be as reliable as targeted tests, while also detecting what those tests cannot, it could change not only the way we diagnose viral infections, but also the way we predict them. In a world that has only recently learned what it means when an unknown virus arrives unnoticed, a diagnostic tool that does not require you to know in advance what you are looking for is no longer an abstract idea, but a concrete goal.
