Molecular Detection Inc. (MDI), a company developing Detect-Ready® tests designed to increase the speed and accuracy of infectious disease diagnosis, today announced that it has completed a $1.5 million financing. The funds are primarily being used to advance MDI's new molecular diagnostic panels for the detection of sepsis and gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. Separately, MDI announced allowance of a new European patent for its stabilization technology, which enables Detect-Ready kits to be shipped and stored at room temperature while preserving the integrity of their reagents. The company also reported that a major teaching hospital in the UK recently completed a comparative study further demonstrating that MDI's Detect-Ready MRSA Panel is superior to a market leading MRSA assay from a global competitor.
"We appreciate the continuing support of our investors, which is enabling us to advance the development of our new molecular diagnostic assays for sepsis and serious gastrointestinal infections prevalent in hospitals," commented Todd Wallach, CEO and chairman of MDI. "The superior performance of the unique differential diagnosis technology that is the foundation for all of our tests was recently reconfirmed in an independent study comparing MDI's Detect-Ready MRSA panel to a market leading competitor. We believe that the Detect-Ready technology provides more accurate and useful information to healthcare providers in an economical, rapid and easy-to-use format, resulting in benefits for hospitals, payers and patients alike."
The new comparative data confirming the greater accuracy of the Detect-Ready MRSA panel was generated by researchers at St. Thomas' Hospital in London as part of an academic study. The study compared the performance of MDI's test and the Becton Dickinson GeneOhm MRSA PCR sold by BD Diagnostics. The researchers concluded that the Detect-Ready MRSA assay is superior to the GeneOhm panel in terms of specificity, while still providing a more rapid screening service compared to traditional microbiology culture methods.
Mr. Wallach continued, "Allowance of the new European patent for our shelf-stabilization technology further enhances the robust intellectual property estate protecting the distinctive advantages of our Detect-Ready technology, complementing our existing European and US patents for our differential diagnosis technology that can analyze multiple gene targets to achieve a highly accurate and informative result."
The two new test panels being developed by MDI also leverage its differential diagnosis technology. Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening complication arising from infection, most frequently in hospitalized patients. Diagnosing sepsis can be difficult and MDI's Detect-Ready sepsis panel is designed to test for a range of targets in order to pinpoint the underlying infection, allowing treatment to begin as soon as possible. Similarly, patients being treated in institutions are at risk for a variety of serious gastrointestinal infections that can be life threatening and costly. MDI's Detect-Ready gastrointestinal panel aims to be the first that can distinguish the source of the infection using a single molecular diagnostic test, facilitating timely and effective treatment. Beta testing for both the Detect-Ready sepsis and GI panels has begun in select healthcare facilities.
All existing investors, including MentorTech Ventures, Robin Hood Ventures, Elm Spring Holdings and the Mid-Atlantic Angel Group participated in the $1.5 million financing.
The Detect-Ready MRSA Panel is a qualitative real-time PCR in vitro diagnostic test that is marketed in the European Union (EU) and other territories and is in late-stage development in the US. It is CE-marked for the detection of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and MSSA (methicillin-sensitive S. aureus) and is the only marketed PCR-based MRSA screening test with the proven ability to discriminate accurately between these pathogens and other related bacteria. Samples for testing are simple to obtain using nasal swabs and the kit's ready-to-use pre-mixed reagents require only the addition of patient sample to run the test, which provides results in less than three hours. Detect-Ready kits are compatible with a number of the real time-PCR platforms currently found in most hospitals. They offer healthcare providers a high-performance sample-to-answer disease screening panel with an unmatched combination of accuracy, speed, flexibility and cost-effectiveness.
* A Comparative Study of Two MRSA PCR Assays, Sarah L. White, Eugene P. Halligan, Penelope R. Cliff Infection Sciences, GSTS Pathology, St Thomas' Hospital, London, UK, 2011.