Denver Health Medical Center and Accelerate Diagnostics Awarded $5 Million Grant To Study Antibiotic Resistant "Super Bug"
DENVER, Feb. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Institutes of Health awarded a five year, $5 million grant to Denver Health Medical Center and Accelerate Diagnostics to develop a fast and reliable test to detect common bacteria directly from blood, with corresponding antibiotic susceptibility, in less than three hours. This study 1 will focus on the detection of an antibiotic resistant "Super Bug" known as carbepenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE).
The challenge physicians currently face in diagnosing infections caused by bacteria is that testing requires a sample to be sent to a lab and allowed to grow before enough information is available to determine which antibiotics will kill the bacteria. This process typically takes two to three days and while waiting, the physician needs to make a best guess on which antibiotics will treat the infection during the waiting period, which may or may not make a difference. Most of the time, resistant bacteria such as CRE do not respond to the antibiotics used before the diagnosis is made, leading to worse results for the patient. In addition, the excess antibiotics used during the waiting period can breed more resistant bacteria.
The study proposes the use of Accelerate Diagnostics' new technology by which a single bacteria cells can be extracted from the patient's blood, observed under a microscope and identified within a few hours. Different antibiotics or combinations of antibiotics can be tested until the proper combination is reached.
"Accurate and timely detection would allow physicians to make better treatment choices and informed infection prevention measures to prevent further spread of the infection," said Dr. Connie Price, Chief of Infectious Disease at Denver Health and one of the principal investigators in the study. "That, in turn, would prevent the need for more antibiotic use --- which is needed to stop feeding the vicious cycle of antimicrobial resistance."
The new technology being used in the study is called the Accelerate ID/AST System and it combines rapid genomic identification and high speed phenotypic susceptibility system into one instrument.
"We are delighted to be working with Denver Health on further enhancing the capabilities of our revolutionary technology," said Steve Metzger, Head of Product Innovation at Accelerate Diagnostics. "We are especially motivated to focus our attention on CRE, as these pathogens are becoming more difficult to treat."
Denver Health is the Rocky Mountain Region's Level I academic trauma center, and the safety net hospital for the Denver area. The Denver Health system, which integrates acute and emergency care with public and community health, includes the Rocky Mountain Regional Trauma Center, Denver's 911 emergency medical response system, Denver Health Paramedic Division, eight family health centers, 16 school-based health centers, the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center, NurseLine, Denver CARES, Denver Public Health, the Denver Health Foundation and the Rocky Mountain Center for Medical Response to Terrorism, Mass Casualties and Epidemics.
Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc. (Nasdaq:AXDX) is an in-vitro diagnostics company focused on developing and commercializing innovative systems for the rapid identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing of infectious pathogens. The Company's revolutionary BACcel™ platform utilizes a proprietary culture-free process with both genomic and phenotypic detection technologies that significantly decreases time to result while achieving high sensitivity and specificity. In addition to the BACcel system development pipeline, the Company also owns and licenses its proprietary OptiChem™ surface coatings technology, which has numerous applications for binding in bio-analytical systems, such as microarrays.
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1Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01AI116993. This content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health
Media Contacts:
Kelli Christensen
Denver Health
303.602.4924
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Matt Russell
Accelerate Diagnostics
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Clare Matschullat
Accelerate Diagnostics – Investor Relations
415.375.3340 ext 106
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SOURCE Denver Health Medical Center
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