NEW YORK – BioMérieux said on Friday that its subsidiary BioFire Defense has been awarded a contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services to accelerate development of the Specific Reveal Rapid Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (AST) system.
Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.
"The Specific Reveal Rapid AST System provides rapid phenotypic results in an average of 5.5 hours compared to up to two days for traditional AST platforms," Pierre Boulud, BioMérieux's chief operating officer for clinical operations, said in a statement. "This innovative platform allows rapid targeted antimicrobial therapy, improving patient care while helping to improve antibiotic stewardship."
The Specific Reveal AST uses positive blood culture samples. The BARDA contract supports expansion of the menu to include other sample types beginning with Gram-negative isolates, BioMérieux said, with contract options to also expand the menu to include Gram-positive blood culture and Gram-positive isolates.
BioMérieux acquired the platform along with its developer Specific Diagnostics last year, and the Reveal system was subsequently granted breakthrough device designation by the US Food and Drug Administration. Earlier this week, the firm highlighted its expectations for future revenue growth for the Reveal business of more than more than $60 million in annual sales of by 2027.
BARDA has also supported the development of the Selux Next Generation Phenotyping system, a rapid AST system which was cleared by the FDA in January along with a Gram-positive panel. And, the agency has supported development of direct-from-blood biothreat pathogen detection from T2 Biosystems.