Curetis and Heraeus Medical Collaborate on the Development of New Unyvero™ Diagnostic Cartridge

- Joint development of cartridge for orthopaedics, wound and surgery infections -
Holzgerlingen and Wehrheim (Germany), September 20, 2012 -- Curetis AG and Heraeus Medical GmbH have signed a collaboration agreement to jointly develop a novel Unyvero™ cartridge for the detection of pathogens and antibiotic resistances in implant & tissue infections (ITI). One key application area will be in orthopaedics, e.g. to diagnose infections after knee and hip replacement surgeries.

Under the terms of the agreement, Heraeus and Curetis will co-fund product development in the respective indication areas. Heraeus’ customers will be given access to the Unyvero™ solution, while Curetis will pay a sales commission for any customer referrals by Heraeus to Curetis. No licenses are involved and further financial details were not disclosed.

Curetis will retain full control over its commercialization strategy and execution both directly in the DACH region as well as via its international distributor network. The resulting Unyvero cartridge and application will be a Curetis-labeled IVD.

The collaboration will provide Heraeus with access to leading-edge, innovative and easy-to-use in vitro diagnostics and molecular diagnostic solutions for its customers. The new ITI cartridge will be of interest not only in general surgery, but also in infections caused by biofilms (e.g. on knee and hip implants or catheters), in abdominal surgery infections, diabetic foot, burn wounds etc.

Today, wound and surgical site infections are increasingly caused by bacteria carrying multiple antibiotic resistances. In orthopaedic indications, infections often involve biofilms, communities of microorganisms very hard to open up and cultivate. At present, it may take 7-15 days to obtain results from biofilm samples. This scenario often leads to prolonged empiric treatment, follow-on surgeries and increased morbidity and healthcare costs.

For the development of the new cartridge, the partners have jointly conducted market research in orthopaedic applications throughout Europe. They have also teamed up with clinical key opinion leaders in Germany, Switzerland, France, the UK, and Scandinavia to determine the pathogens and antibiotic resistances that need to be included in the diagnostic panel of the new cartridge. The partners expect assay development for the new cartridge to be completed by early 2013, with clinical validation and CE marking throughout 2013 and an expected launch in the EU by the end of 2013. The product is likely to include more than 40 and possibly up to 50 analytes.

“There is a need for a highly accurate implant/orthopaedic infection test for mixed pathogens; the diagnostic field is for Heraeus Medical – a leader in infection management in orthopaedics - an extension of its core business,” said André Kobelt, CEO of Heraeus Medical GmbH. “Therefore, we are happy to team up with Curetis as the Unyvero platform provides customers with superior molecular diagnostics solutions to combat serious infections faster and more effectively, as well as potentially improving the management of latent orthopaedic infection.”

“The collaboration with Heraeus Medical provides us with the opportunity to leveraging our Unyvero platform once again in an important indication, which is only poorly addressed by today’s diagnostic tools,” said Oliver Schacht, CEO of Curetis. “We offer highly multiplexed analyte panels of pathogens and resistance markers for applications that require the ability to work with a diverse set of native, complex clinical samples and an unmatched ease of use from sample-to-result in about 4 hours. The collaboration is in line with our goal of maintaining full strategic and commercial freedom in our partnerships.”

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About the Unyvero™ System
The CE-marked 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 about four hours to support an informed therapy decision as early as possible.
The first CE-marked 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.

About Heraeus
Heraeus, the precious metals and technology group headquartered in Hanau, Germany, is a global, private company with more than 160 years of tradition. The fields of competence include precious metals, materials, and technologies, sensors, biomaterials, and medical products, as well as dental products, quartz glass, and specialty light sources. With product revenues of €4.8 billion and precious metal trading revenues of €21.3 billion, as well as more than 13,300 employees in over 120 subsidiaries worldwide, Heraeus holds a leading position in its global markets.
Heraeus Medical develops, manufactures and markets biomaterials and accessories to make an essential contribution to improving surgical results in bone and joint surgery as well as infection management.

Contact
Curetis AG
Max-Eyth-Str. 42
71088 Holzgerlingen, Germany
Tel. +49 (0) 7031 49195-10
pr(at)curetis.com
www.curetis.com

Heraeus Medical GmbH
Philipp-Reis-Str. 8/13
61273 Wehrheim, Germany
Tel. +49 (0) 6181 – 35 33 99
www.heraeus-medical.com

Media Inquiries
akampion
Dr. Ludger Wess / Ines-Regina Buth
Managing Partners
info(at)akampion.com
Tel. +49 40 88 16 59 64
Tel. +49 30 23 63 27 68

About Curetis AG
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. Curetis has signed collaboration agreements with Sanofi Pasteur, Heraeus Medical and Cempra Inc., as well as several international distribution agreements.

Curetis AG
Oliver Schacht, CEO

Max-Eyth-Str. 42
71088 Holzgerlingen, Germany
Tel. +49 (0) 7031 49195-10
pr(at)curetis.com
www.curetis.com

This release was published on openPR.