Rapid molecular diagnostics for the vet’s office

Carpegen and collaborators receive award of German government grant funding for the development of rapid molecular diagnostics of travel related and enteric diseases in small animals.

Please find below the official press release of OpGen, Inc.:

OpGen Announces Award of German Government Grant Funding to its Subsidiary Curetis and Collaborators

• Project to look at rapid molecular diagnostics for travel related and enteric diseases in small animals
• Veterinary applications to be developed on Unyvero A30 RQ platform
• Curetis to collaborate with Carpegen and Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich

GAITHERSBURG, Md. and HOLZGERLINGEN, Germany, Oct. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OpGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPGN, “OpGen”), a precision medicine company harnessing the power of molecular diagnostics and bioinformatics to help combat infectious disease, announced today the award of a German Federal Government grant to its subsidiary, Curetis GmbH, and collaborators Carpegen GmbH (Muenster, Germany) and the Clinic for Small Animal Internal Medicine of the LMU Ludwig-Maximilians- University (Munich, Germany).

The project which was originally initiated via the VetDx network in Berlin and Brandenburg is set to receive funding under the “Zentrales Innovationsprogramm Mittelstand” i.e., a central innovation program for medium sized growth companies in collaboration with academic institutions. The project will focus on travel related and enteric diseases in small animals which is an area of growing concern with increasing incidence rates. Several of these diseases are caused by potential zoonotic pathogens that could also be passed to humans, i.e. by looking at veterinary applications one might also help prevent human diseases in the future.

Currently there is no comparable rapid, automated, cartridge-based sample to answer molecular diagnostic system that would target these diseases, which the collaboration partners believe will be needed to successfully address the unmet clinical need. The primary project objective is to develop such a molecular diagnostics platform for infectious diseases in small animals. The 3-year project starts on December 1st, 2020. Under the grant project which has a volume of over half a million Euros, Curetis expects to receive EUR 152,000 in non-dilutive funding during this time.

Specifically, the project will be targeting travel related and enteric diseases in small animals such as parasitic diseases and viral infectious diseases. Curetis’ contribution will be focusing on the development and integration of sample preparation and assays onto the Unyvero A30 RQ platform, as well as integration of dried reagents into the diagnostic test cartridges that run on the system. Collaboration partner Carpegen will be focusing on the development of dried reagents and on joint sample preparation and assay development efforts together with the team at Curetis, while the academic partner LMU will be responsible for sample acquisition and prototype validation as well as for providing reference strains.

“We are excited to collaborate with Carpegen and LMU on this project which will help expand the use of our Unyvero A30 platform in development. Developing rapid veterinary diagnostics tests on such an automated platform will potentially open up future commercial and partnering opportunities” said Oliver Schacht, PhD, CEO of OpGen.

“We are really looking forward to participating in this exciting project which is the first project of Carpegen targeting the veterinary market” said Antje Roetger, PhD, CEO of Carpegen. “In addition, we are very pleased that we have the ongoing opportunity to work on a project involving OpGen’s Unyvero A30 RQ platform since the first prototype of this promising platform was developed within an R&D project led by Carpegen.”

“We are very happy for the opportunity to contribute to a new point-of-care system in veterinary diagnostics. With an annual case load of more than 5,000 patients as a first opinion and referral clinic we experience every day the need for accurate and fast diagnosis of infectious diseases. We consider it our obligation to find solutions for our patients, the pet owners, and veterinarians working in private practices by developing economical and easy-to-use laboratory tests in collaboration with innovative industry partners.” said Dr. Karin Weber, Head of Laboratory at the Clinic for Small Animal Internal Medicine.

About LMU Munich

The Clinic for Small Animal Internal Medicine as part of the LMU Munich is a leading academic institution in the field of veterinary internal medicine for cats and dogs and strives to actively participate in the development of sustainable diagnostic systems for small animal medicine. With our professional expertise we ensure that the products align with market needs. As a university research group we would like to contribute significantly to the progress of point-of-care systems in veterinary medicine. As a university veterinary clinic we would like to improve the diagnostic possibilities in small animal medicine for the benefit of our animal patients.

About Carpegen

Carpegen (Muenster, Germany) is a provider of high-quality molecular diagnostics. We focus on developing real-time PCR assays and point-of-care systems for the diagnosis of specific infections and the detection of genetic biomarkers. Carpegen has developed Carpegen® Perio Diagnostics, a powerful real-time PCR based system that sets new standards in dental diagnostics. A main objective of Carpegen’s research program is to develop and out-license POC/PCR systems for diverse applications in medicine, as well as in food/beverage and environmental analytics.   Since 2020, Carpegen offers sensitive and specific real-time PCR diagnostics for the detection of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

About OpGen, Inc.

OpGen, Inc. (Gaithersburg, MD, USA) is a precision medicine company harnessing the power of molecular diagnostics and bioinformatics to help combat infectious disease. Along with its 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.