World’s fastest antibiotic resistance testing
ArcDia’s groundbreaking technology enables world’s fastest phenotypic antibiotic resistance testing
Turku, June 8, 2016 – Today, ArcDia International Oy Ltd (www.arcdia.com) launches a new strategy with the aim of achieving a leading position in the global market for rapid phenotypic testing of antimicrobial resistance.
ArcDia has initiated a R&D program to develop a complete product line for rapid antibiotic resistance testing. The new product line, mariAST™, aims to target those bacterial strains that pose the most severe resistance issues in outpatient and screening markets. The first mariAST™ application will be launched in Europe in 2017. The test will help physicians to determine the antibiotic resistance profile of the microbe causing an infection. This information will allow the physician to administer the correct antibiotic regimen in an infection’s early phase.
Confronting to the global threat. The WHO has reported that antimicrobial resistance poses a serious threat to public health. New resistant microbes are emerging at an alarming rate, and the world appears to be heading towards a post-antibiotic era. Opinion leaders and authorities around the world have been calling for improved measures for dealing with an increasing resistance problem. These measures may include a ban on the empirical use of antibiotics, improved hygiene control, and the development of new drugs. All of these measures, however, will require a fully functional diagnostic infrastructure both for identification of the microbes and for rapid antibiotic resistance testing. ArcDia provides these: 1) mariPOC® tests for the identification of microorganisms, and 2) mariAST™ for resistance testing.
“We have followed the emergence of antimicrobial resistance with great concern. By launching the mariAST™ program, we have put into practice what we have been planning for several years”, says Dr. Aleksi Soini, CEO of ArcDia International Ltd. “As early as 2013, researchers at University of Turku demonstrated the power of ArcDia’s technology platform in resistance testing. mariAST™ appears to be the only platform in the world that allows phenotypic antimicrobial resistance testing directly from polymicrobial clinical samples”, continues Dr. Soini.
About ArcDia International Ltd
ArcDia International Oy Ltd is a private company focused on the development of innovative products for the rapid testing of infectious diseases. The company in Turku, Finland, was founded in 2008 and employs 28 skilled professionals. ArcDia is the developer and manufacturer of the mariPOC test system – an automatic system for the rapid multianalyte identification of the pathogens for acute infectious diseases. The mariPOC® application portfolio includes respiratory tract infections, tonsillitis and gastroenteritis.
References
WHO statement: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs194/en/
Peer reviewed articles demonstrating the potential of mariAST™:
- Stenholm et al. Scand J Infect Dis. 45: 922–929 (2013
- Stenholm et al. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 30; 1237 (2011)
Further information:
Ida Koho, Marketing Manager
ArcDia International Oy Ltd.
e-mail: ida.koho@arcdia.com
Cell/mobile: +358 40 531 6263