OpGen Subsidiary Ares Genetics Launches AREScloud
October 21 2021 - 7:30AM
OpGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPGN, “OpGen”), a precision medicine company
harnessing the power of molecular diagnostics and informatics to
help combat infectious disease, today announced that its subsidiary
Ares Genetics, which strives to become a leader in bacterial
genomics and the AI-powered prediction of antimicrobial resistance
(AMR), has commercially launched its AREScloud web application.
Outbreaks of antimicrobial resistant pathogens are a major
threat to human health and are a burden to healthcare systems
worldwide. To curb the AMR pandemic, effective AMR surveillance and
diagnostics are required for infection prevention and
better-informed selection of appropriate first- and second-line
treatment options.
Leading global health organizations have acknowledged the
importance of whole genome sequencing (WGS) of bacterial isolates
for effective surveillance and infection prevention and control
(IPC). In its 2020 report, the World Health Organization (WHO)
states that WGS technology “provides a vast amount of information
and the highest possible resolution for pathogen subtyping. The
application of WGS for global surveillance can provide information
on the early emergence and spread of AMR and further inform timely
policy development on AMR control.”1
"The advantage of WGS over other molecular tests such as PCR
resides in the technique’s potential to provide in a single assay
sensitive and precise information on pathogen identity along with
information on AMR and virulence," says Dr. Arne Materna, CEO of
Ares Genetics. "The challenge of many microbiology laboratories
resides in converting WGS-derived complex genome data into
actionable information on pathogen identity and AMR, along with
treatment options and transmission potential."
AREScloud is designed to help clinical microbiologists,
epidemiologists and IPC experts overcome this challenge. The
software fully automates data processing - from raw sequence data
to report - and offers insights into epidemiologically and
etiologically relevant information including pathogen identity,
genotype, virulence, plasmids, and AMR. In addition to generating
individual sample reports, the AREScloud version that has now been
commercially released for the first time introduces unique features
for comparative and outbreak analysis.
Under a simple subscription model users can benefit from access
to ARESdb, a leading proprietary knowledgebase which contains
comprehensive information on genetic and mutational AMR markers as
well as advanced machine-learning models for the prediction of
antibiograms directly from genomic data.
The performance of AREScloud bioinformatics pipelines for
isolate WGS has been validated in several clinical studies. Studies
from 20202 and 20213 demonstrate the pipelines' accuracy and
reproducibility for different sequencing platforms, offering users
flexibility to choose between widely available Illumina short read
data or Oxford Nanopore Technology long read data, an option
increasingly adopted for infectious disease applications due to its
potential for rapid turn-around times. A multicenter validation
study4 from 2020 demonstrates the analytical performance of
predicting antibiograms from genomic data (also referred to as
predictive antimicrobial susceptibility testing or pAST).
To demonstrate the clinical utility of the AREScloud web
application and help identify further areas for optimization in the
future, Ares Genetics is actively engaged in discussions with
clinical expert users and is collaborating with two major U.S.
hospitals on independent studies to evaluate the platform for
clinical routine use and for outbreak analysis.
More information on AREScloud is available on
the company's website or can be requested from
services@ares-genetics.com.
About OpGen, Inc.
OpGen, Inc. (Rockville, MD, USA) is a precision
medicine company harnessing the power of molecular diagnostics and
bioinformatics to help combat infectious disease. Along with our
subsidiaries, Curetis GmbH and Ares Genetics GmbH, we are
developing and commercializing molecular microbiology solutions
helping to guide clinicians with more rapid and actionable
information about life threatening infections to improve patient
outcomes, and decrease the spread of infections caused by
multidrug-resistant microorganisms, or MDROs. OpGen’s product
portfolio includes Unyvero, Acuitas AMR Gene Panel and Acuitas®
Lighthouse, and the ARES Technology Platform including ARESdb,
using NGS technology and AI-powered bioinformatics solutions for
antibiotic response prediction.
For more information, please visit
www.opgen.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes statements regarding
the commercial launch of AREScloud, a web application aimed at
accelerating the analysis of sequenced clinical isolates. These
statements and other statements regarding OpGen’s future plans and
goals constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and are intended to qualify for the
safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to risks
and uncertainties that are often difficult to predict, are beyond
our control, and which may cause results to differ materially from
expectations. Factors that could cause our results to differ
materially from those described include, but are not limited to,
our ability to successfully, timely and cost-effectively develop,
seek and obtain regulatory clearance for and commercialize our
product and services offerings, the rate of adoption of our
products and services by hospitals and other healthcare providers,
the fact that we may not effectively use proceeds from our
financings, the realization of expected benefits of our business
combination transaction with Curetis GmbH, the success of our
commercialization efforts, the impact of COVID-19 on the Company’s
operations, financial results, and commercialization efforts as
well as on capital markets and general economic conditions, the
effect on our business of existing and new regulatory requirements,
and other economic and competitive factors. For a discussion of the
most significant risks and uncertainties associated with OpGen's
business, please review our filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance
on these forward-looking statements, which are based on our
expectations as of the date of this press release and speak only as
of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as
a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
required by laws.
Contact:
OpGen:Oliver SchachtPresident and
CEOInvestorRelations@opgen.com
OpGen Press Contact:Matthew
Bretzius FischTank Marketing and PR
matt@fischtankpr.com
OpGen Investor Contact:Maxwell
ColbertEdison Groupmcolbert@edisongroup.com
1 https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240011007
2
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.01883/full
3 https://arestech-public.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/resources/ARESiss+ONT+Validation.pdf
4 https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/JCM.00273-20
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