OpGen subsidiary Curetis announced on Tuesday a research and development collaboration agreement with FIND, the global alliance for diagnostics, to develop the Unyvero A30 RQ platform for use in low and middle income countries.
FIND and German KfW bank will provide €700,000 ($697,708) for the project.
The Unyvero A30 RQ platform is a sample to answer instrument that runs a disposable one-time use cartridge. Each cartridge can test for up to 33 targets in a single specimen with time-to-result between 30 and 90 minutes depending on test complexity.
In a statement, Curetis said that given the favorable cost of goods profile for both the instrument and cartridge, the system lends itself to being deployed in LMICs.
The R&D team will develop a molecular test panel for pathogen identification and antimicrobial resistance detection, develop an easy-to-perform workflow compatible with available blood culture systems in target regions without the requirement for separate sample preparation steps, and adapt key features of the A30 RQ platform for use in environments found in LMICs, such as continuous operation with unstable power grids.
After demonstrating feasibility in the initial R&D project phase, both parties have agreed to discuss the option for potential future collaboration, as well as a possible commercialization agreement between OpGen and FIND.
A future collaboration agreement would aim to bring the Unyvero A30 RQ platform and initial application products through required clinical studies and regulatory approvals in LMICs to make them commercially available at an attractive cost profile to commercial distribution partners, Curetis said.
