OpGen Launches Ares Sequencing Services in the U.S. from its Rockville, Maryland Laboratory
August 25 2022 - 6:30AM
OpGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPGN, “OpGen” or “the Company”), a precision
medicine company harnessing the power of molecular diagnostics and
informatics to help combat infectious disease, announced today that
it has launched next generation sequencing (NGS) services in the
U.S. that were developed by its subsidiary, Ares Genetics (“Ares”),
which strives to become a leader in bacterial genomics and
artificial intelligence (AI)-powered antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
solutions.
The Rockville-based laboratory enables OpGen to
offer validated high quality sequencing and analysis services with
rapid turnaround times. Services will provide the infectious
disease community in the U.S. with routine sequencing of priority
isolates and outbreak analyses that support their needs for
surveillance, infection prevention and antibiotic stewardship.
Ares’ services include ARESiss, which is a fully
validated whole genome sequencing workflow for bacterial isolates,
now also being offered as a service to customers in the U.S.
Reports from the sequencing service are conveniently accessible to
customers via Ares’ web application AREScloud. The web application
is also available by subscription for laboratories performing their
own sequencing. A subscription enables customers to analyze data
from isolates and metagenomic samples, to perform outbreak
monitoring of pathogens and to query Ares’ proprietary AMR
knowledgebase ARESdb in order to obtain rich information on AMR for
analyzed samples.
We believe that the combination of sequencing
services coupled with standalone software for outbreak analysis is
unique in the US and comprises a purpose-built solution enabling
customers to perform routine genomic surveillance regardless of
their local access to sequencing.
The service portfolio also includes ARESid, a
service to identify bacterial organisms present in samples, and
ARESupa, a comprehensive AMR marker capture assay already offered
through the Ares laboratory in Vienna, Austria.
In combination with the AREScloud web
application, the Company provides sequencing and analysis services
for key applications in microbiology including:
- Rapid and comprehensive genetic characterization of bacterial
isolates:
- Taxonomic identification and sequence typing
- Detection of plasmids and other mobile elements, AMR and
virulence markers
- Prediction of phenotypic antibiotic susceptibility using the
Company’s proprietary ARESdb database
- Specialized software to support the analysis of bacterial
outbreaks
- Culture-free species identification from native clinical or
environmental samples
- Resistome surveillance from environmental samples such as
wastewater.
“This is an exciting time in clinical
microbiology,” said Dr. Arne Materna, CEO of Ares Genetics. “With
improving sequencing capacity and turnaround times, the decline in
costs and the development of new analytical tools, we are beginning
to realize both the healthcare-related and economic benefits of
routine microbial genome sequencing applications.”
To help curb the global spread of AMR pathogens,
OpGen is expanding its commercial offering of Ares sequencing and
analysis services aimed at clinical microbiologists and specialists
in public health and infection prevention and control. Opening of
the U.S. service lab provides immediate access to the Company’s
validated whole genome sequencing service for clinical
isolates.
“We are delighted to respond to customer demand
by introducing commercial U.S. based services,” said Dr. Materna.
“Researchers at leading U.S. healthcare institutions are already
using Ares’ solutions to characterize AMR pathogens1,2. By opening
the sequencing service lab in Rockville, Maryland, we bring a more
complete suite of services based on our unique and validated
platform for end-to-end whole genome sequencing and analysis of
bacterial isolates to the U.S. and enable customers to characterize
isolates and respond to local outbreaks in a timely manner. We
believe the launch of these services provides us with an exciting
revenue growth opportunity in the U.S. market going forward.”
DisclaimerAll Ares Genetics
products and services are for research use only.
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 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 or contact us
via email at ares@ares-genetics.com to find out more about these
services.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes statements regarding
OpGen’s launch of U.S. based Ares sequencing services from the
laboratory at OpGen’s headquarters in Rockville, MD. 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, our ability to satisfy debt obligations under our loan
with the European Investment Bank, 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
____________________________
1 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35862760/2
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.973605/full
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