Results from the University of Maryland School of Medicine Demonstrate Acuitas MDRO Gene Test is a Highly Sensitive and Efficient Method for Detecting the Presence of Antibiotic Resistance Genes

GAITHERSBURG, Md. (April 29, 2015) – OpGen, Inc., a molecular testing and bioinformatics company, today announced that new study data on its Acuitas® MDRO Gene Test was presented at the 25th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) held from April 25th to 28th in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Conducted at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) in collaboration with OpGen, the study compared OpGen’s test results to the combined results of culture and a research molecular detection method on 150 patient samples, fully characterized for phenotypic and genotypic resistance, collected at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) and its affiliated hospitals. Kristie Johnson, Ph.D., D (ABMM), Associate Professor, Department of Pathology at UM SOM and Interim Director, Microbiology at UMMC, led the study.

Although the Acuitas MDRO Gene Test detects, from a single swab, 10 resistant genes associated with carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE), extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), and other carbapenemases, this study specifically evaluated the test’s sensitivity for the detection of KPC, OXA-23, OXA-51, and VanA genes. Sensitivity of 100 percent was demonstrated for each of the genes evaluated as conveyed via the ECCMID poster entitled, “The Acuitas MDRO Gene Test Compared to a Culture/Molecular Assay for Detection of Gene Families Associated with Multidrug-Resistant organisms from Single Peri-anal Swabs for Surveillance.”

“This research makes important advances in infection prevention and control,” Dr. Johnson said. “We are now better able to detect resistant genes associated with several multiple drug resistant organisms.”

Multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) are common bacteria that have developed resistance to multiple classes of antibiotics. They are a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections and are associated with an increase in morbidity and mortality. Each year, more than two million Americans get infections that are resistant to antibiotics and of those, 23,000 will die. Infections that contain the KPC gene such as CRE have rapidly spread throughout the world in the last decade. Asymptomatic carriers are at a higher risk of an MDRO infection and become reservoirs for transmission to other patients in health care systems if not accurately identified early.

Additionally, at the conference, researchers presented three posters with data using OpGen’s Whole Genome Mapping™ technology. Researchers from the University of Antwerp presented data in the poster entitled, “High Resolution Clonality Outbreak-Causing Acinetobacter baumannii Studied by Whole Genome Mapping.” Researchers from Applied Maths NV, Utrecht University, and the Produce Safety and Microbiology Research Unit, U.S. Department of Agriculture presented data in the poster “Whole Genome Mapping as a Useful Tool to Determine Phylogenetic Relationships in Campylobacter fetus.” Researchers from Applied Maths NV and the University of Oxford, UK presented the poster “Combined Analysis of Whole Genome MLST data and Whole Genome Mapping Data for Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli Isolates.”

For more information regarding the posters presented, visit the ECCMID website.

About OpGen

OpGen, Inc. is an early commercial stage company using molecular testing and bioinformatics to assist healthcare providers to combat multi-drug resistant bacterial infections. The company’s products and services are designed to enable the rapid identification of hospital patients who are colonized or infected with life-threatening, multi-drug resistant organisms, or MDROs. The company’s lead product is the Acuitas MDRO Gene Test. Products in development include the Acuitas Lighthouse™ MDRO Management System and the Acuitas Resistome Test. In addition, the company has more than 10 years of experience mapping microbial, plant and human genomes. Learn more at www.opgen.com.

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OpGen

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Kim Sutton Golodetz
(212) 838-3777
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or Bruce Voss
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bvoss@lhai.com

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Lisa Guiterman
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