OpGen’s subsidiary Ares Genetics provides update on collaboration agreement to drive cutting-edge digital solutions in global fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
06 April 2022 - 9:30PM
OpGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPGN, “OpGen”), a precision medicine company
harnessing the power of molecular diagnostics and informatics to
help combat infectious disease, announced today that its
subsidiary, Ares Genetics (Ares), which strives to become a leader
in bacterial genomics and AI-powered prediction of antimicrobial
resistance (AMR), is expanding its strategic collaboration with
Sandoz, aimed at driving cutting-edge digital solutions in the
global fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and to that
end has extended its collaboration agreement until January 31,
2025.
The extension of the existing master services
agreement with Sandoz reflects both companies’ recognition of the
critical importance of surveillance data to inform better
prescribing and use of antibiotics – a central component of the
global AMR response strategy.
In a separate press release Sandoz CEO Richard
Saynor said, “Antibiotics are the cornerstone of modern medicine.
AMR, which is now estimated to directly account for nearly 1.3
million deaths worldwide every year, is an unprecedented threat to
global public health. As the world’s leading provider of generic
antibiotics, our goal at Sandoz is to play a key role in overcoming
this growing threat. This collaboration is a key step towards that
goal, allowing us to take the fight directly to AMR by using
cutting-edge big data and AI approaches combined with traditional
data sets. By combining our respective skillsets, we believe we can
not only use diagnostic and surveillance data to help healthcare
professionals make better diagnoses, but also expand our options to
treat AMR in the future, by targeted repurposing of key
antibiotics. Our ultimate goal is both simple and radical: to
ensure we get the right medicine to the right patient at the right
time.”
During the initial stage of the collaboration,
Ares has developed a digital anti-infectives platform, combining
established microbiology laboratory practices with advanced
bioinformatics and AI methods to support the identification of
effective antimicrobial compounds or compound combinations to
address critical pathogens, which Sandoz can in turn leverage to
drive portfolio and commercial decisions.
In the upcoming next phase, both collaboration
parties intend to focus further on antibiotic stewardship by
enabling genomic surveillance for resistant pathogens, using Ares’
next-generation sequencing (NGS) and bioinformatics technologies.
Financial details are not being disclosed at this stage.
“Such diagnostic and surveillance data not only
have the potential to empirically inform antibiotic stewardship
today,” commented Dr. Arne Materna, CEO of Ares Genetics, “but also
hold the potential to expand our options in treating AMR in the
future. Supplying up-to-date AMR data to the Ares digital
anti-infectives platform promotes the discovery of effective
conventional antimicrobial compounds and combinations thereof, and
may ultimately allow their targeted repurposing as treatment
alternatives that could help preserve last-resort therapies.”
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 collaboration between Ares and Sandoz. 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,
the success of our commercialization efforts, 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 recent financings, the continued
realization of expected benefits of our business combination
transaction with Curetis GmbH, the continued 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 of the military action in Russia and Ukraine
on our distributors, collaborators, and service providers, our
liquidity and working capital requirements, 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.
OpGen:Oliver SchachtPresident and
CEOInvestorRelations@opgen.com
OpGen Press Contact:Matthew
Bretzius FischTank Marketing and PR
matt@fischtankpr.com
OpGen Investor Contact:Alyssa
FactorEdison Groupafactor@edisongroup.com
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