NEW YORK – Accelerate Diagnostics said Monday that it has signed a collaboration and quality agreement with Bruker to combine Bruker's MALDI Biotyper tools with its Arc sample prep system.
Under the agreement, the companies will validate the use of Accelerate's Arc system for automated positive blood culture sample preparation with Bruker's MALDI Biotyper Sirius instruments and Sepsityper software for registration in both the US and EMEA markets.
The Arc platform allows for on-demand processing of samples without requiring overnight incubation. Bruker's MALDI Biotyper platform can then be used for microbial identification with Accelerate's Pheno system providing rapid phenotypic antibiotic susceptibility testing.
According to Accelerate, the combined Arc-Biotyper workflow is intended to compete with molecular positive blood culture identification methods, offering potentially lower costs and fewer false positive identifications.
Accelerate said it has launched a clinical trial for the system and intends to make a submission to the US Food and Drug Administration in coming months.
"The total cost to rapidly identify organisms from positive blood cultures is significantly lower than what labs are paying today for a rapid molecular ID solution," Jack Phillips, president and CEO of Accelerate, said in a statement. "We look forward to working with Bruker, the recognized leader in mass spectrometry-based microbial identification, to bring this much needed solution to laboratories."
"The combination of Bruker's MALDI Biotyper with Accelerate Diagnostics' Arc system to automate positive blood culture sample preparation and rapid microbial identification will be a valuable addition to many laboratories," Wolfgang Pusch, president of Bruker microbiology and infection diagnostics, said in a statement.
Financial and other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.