Curetis AG to Present Its Unyvero™ System for Pneumonia Diagnostics

- Demonstration supported by symposium on bacterial pneumonia and emerging antibiotic resistance at the 22nd European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) -

Holzgerlingen, Germany, March 22, 2012 -- Curetis AG, an innovative molecular diagnostics company focusing on the development and commercialization of in-vitro diagnostic products for infectious diseases, today announced the presentation of its Unyvero™ System and the Unyvero™ P50 Pneumonia Cartridge during the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in London.

The showcasing will be accompanied by the Curetis-sponsored Integrated Symposium “Bacterial Pneumonia and Emerging Antibiotic Resistance”, which will focus on pneumonia-causing pathogens, their respective antibiotic resistances, and the relevance of multiplexed molecular diagnostic testing. The event will be chaired by clinical microbiologist and molecular diagnostics specialist Prof. Christine Ginocchio (North Shore-LIJ Health System School of Medicine, New York), and Prof. Keith Klugman (Emory University, Atlanta), the world’s premier expert on antibiotic resistance among pneumococcal bacteria.

The Unyvero™ System is a versatile hardware platform for the detection of a broad panel of bacteria and antibiotic resistances from a single sample in one run. It processes a disposable cartridge providing the necessary reagents to complete the analysis from sample to report. The Unyvero™ P50 Cartridge is the first cartridge developed by Curetis AG and focuses on pathogen as well as antibiotic resistance testing for pneumonia. Each cartridge handles one patient sample and simultaneously analyzes 39 DNA targets. Results are available within less than 4 hours.

“We are very happy to introduce our product during the ECCMID conference in the presence of eminent specialists in pneumonia infections, antibiotic resistance and molecular diagnostics,” said Oliver Schacht, CEO of Curetis. “Severe acute infections and growing antibiotic resistances are a major burden for today`s health care systems and treatment is often impaired by insufficient, slow diagnostics. By providing a novel technology for the fast, precise and automated diagnosis of infectious disease agents and their antibiotic resistances, we hope to contribute to improved clinical outcomes and to limit the risk of even further increasing antibiotic resistances in the population.”

The symposium will take place on April 1, 2012, from 4pm to 6pm in Capital Suite H (level 3) at the international exhibition and convention centre ExCeL, London. Symposium speakers include Prof. Jean-Louis Vincent (Erasmus University, Brussels), Prof. David Livermore (University of East Anglia), and Prof. Ingo Autenrieth (University of Tuebingen). Talks will be followed by a panel discussion on the clinical relevance of faster molecular testing with contributions by Prof. Christine Ginocchio and Antonio Torres (University Clinic, Barcelona). Following the event, Curetis will host a presentation of the Unyvero™ System, including an address by Prof. Carl Erik Nord, Karolinska University Hospital and a reception (6pm, meeting rooms 24/25). Further information about the symposium and the speakers are available at http://registration.akm.ch/einsicht.php?XNMASKEN_ID=300&XNKONGRESS_ID=161&XNSPRACHE_ID=2&XNSESSION_ID=12286.

Curetis AG will exhibit its products and technology from March 31 to April 3, 2012, during the ECCMID conference (hall S10 Exhibition, level 1, booth 213). The event will take place at ExCeL London. Curetis AG is proud to be Silver Medal Sponsor of the 2012 ECCMID.

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About the Unyvero™ System
The Unyvero™ System is a versatile hardware platform for the detection of a broad panel of bacteria and antibiotic resistances from a single sample in one run. It processes a disposable cartridge providing the necessary reagents to complete the analysis from sample to result.
The platform enables the DNA-based testing of all clinically relevant samples in a fully automated, unsupervised analysis process requiring only few, quick manual preparation steps. The analysis thus can be performed with minimal operator time and without the need of skilled staff or special infrastructure.
Thereby, clinically relevant information is available within less than four hours to support an informed therapy decision as early as possible.
The first Unyvero™ Cartridge, Unyvero™ P50, focuses on pneumonia testing and simultaneously analyses 39 DNA targets. Cartridges for further applications, e.g. for surgical site infections, blood stream infections and tuberculosis, are in preparation.

Media Inquiries:
akampion
Dr. Ludger Wess / Ines-Regina Buth
Managing Partners

info@akampion.com
Tel. +49 40 88 16 59 64
Tel. +49 30 23 63 27 68

About Curetis (Germany)
Founded in 2007, Curetis AG is a molecular diagnostics company which focuses on the development and commercialization of reliable, fast and cost-effective products for diagnosing severe infectious diseases. The diagnostic solutions of Curetis AG will enable rapid multiparameter pathogen and antibiotic resistance detection in only a few hours, a process that today can take up to days or even weeks with other techniques.
To date, Curetis has raised total funds of over € 36.6 million (~ USD 50 million). The company is based in Holzgerlingen near Stuttgart, Germany. In 2011, Curetis signed a collaboration agreement with Sanofi Pasteur for the potential use of the Unyvero™ platform in a future global clinical trial.

Curetis AG
Dr. Oliver Schacht
CEO
Max-Eyth-Str. 42
71088 Holzgerlingen
Germany

Tel. +49 (0) 7031 49195-10

pr@curetis.com
www.curetis.com

This release was published on openPR.