Accelr8 Begins Private Equity Sale and Presents Updates
January 19 2010 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
Accelr8 Technology Corporation (NYSE Amex: AXK) announced
the start of a private sale of equity to qualified investors and
released updates on corporate events. The company began the equity
offer after its annual shareholders’ meeting on December 16,
2009.
Since early October 2009, the company has opened discussions
with a number of prospective industry collaborators. The company’s
ability to do so became possible upon the completion of a technical
development agreement with another company, announced September 25,
2009.
In October 2009, Accelr8 received notice of allowance on its
patent application for the BACcel™ rapid diagnostics system
(instrument and materials). This notice follows the prior issuance
of U.S. patent 7,341,841 covering the BACcel™ system’s core methods
for culture-free rapid microbial pathogen diagnostics.
The BACcel™ culture-free system works by extracting and
immobilizing live organisms from a patient specimen, and analyzing
them with an automated microscopy system that scans the patient
sample in single-use cassette. Standard lab cultures now typically
require 2-3 days, but the physician must start therapy within a few
hours when a seriously ill patient shows signs of infection. For a
serious infection, the lab needs to identify specific drug
resistance mechanisms that counteract standard drug regimens,
rendering them inadequate to control the infection. This happens in
about one-third of initial treatment attempts.
Accelr8’s BACcel™ system reports quantitative organism
identification within 2 hours of the lab receiving a patient
specimen. This gives the physician actionable information during
the narrow time window for starting initial therapy with
broad-spectrum drugs. The system can then report major drug
resistance mechanisms within an additional 2-6 hours, helping the
physician to select narrower-spectrum antibiotics, reduce exposure
to broad-spectrum agents, and thereby reduce selective pressure
that leads to increasing resistance in hospital pathogen
strains.
Testing during development and presentations at national
professional meetings have demonstrated rapid results and accurate
quantitation on three important species that are prone to acquire
multiple drug resistance: Staphylococcus aureus (including MRSA),
Acinetobacter baumannii complex, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The
company has also demonstrated high accuracy with Klebsiella
clinical isolates that carry the new KPC broad-spectrum resistance
enzyme that is causing great concern and is difficult to
detect.
The company updated a July 2009 announcement about starting a
pilot clinical study at the Denver Health Medical Center. The pilot
study monitors ventilated patients at risk for contracting
ventilator-associated pneumonia, comparing the accuracy and speed
for BACcel™ when compared to standard laboratory culturing.
According to David Howson, Accelr8’s president, “As expected, most
of the initial surveillance specimens have so far tested negative
for bacterial content. The BACcel™ prototypes and conventional
culturing have both yielded the same results to date. Working
directly with fresh patient specimens, our research collaborators
are studying an important problem with at-risk patients who are not
yet exhibiting clinical symptoms. We believe that this clinical
study will generate great interest with regard to the potential
value of rapid diagnostics and microbiological monitoring.”
In another update, the company had filed its 10-K annual report
with the SEC on November 13, 2009, and on December 15 filed its
10-Q for the second fiscal quarter, ending October 31, 2009. The
company’s 10-K had disclosed a “going concern” statement by its
auditors, attributed to recurring losses, but unqualified in scope
and not accompanied by a qualified opinion letter. The company is
issuing this press statement in accordance with Section 610 of the
NYSE Amex Company Guide. Management is addressing the financing
issue through the announced private sale of equity.
About Accelr8
Accelr8 Technology Corporation (www.accelr8.com) is a developer of
innovative materials and instrumentation for advanced applications
in medical instrumentation, basic research, drug discovery, and
bio-detection. Accelr8 is developing a rapid analytical platform
for infectious pathogens, the BACcel™ system, based on its
innovative surface coatings, assay processing, and detection
technologies. In addition, Accelr8 licenses certain of its
proprietary technology for use in applications outside of Accelr8’s
own products.
Certain statements in this news release may be “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended. Statements regarding future prospects and
developments are based upon current expectations and involve
certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and
developments to differ materially from the forward-looking
statement, including those detailed in the company's filings with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accelr8 does not undertake
an obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information or future
events.
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