Curetis N.V. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Ares Genetics GmbH has opened a specialized service laboratory offering next-generation molecular antimicrobial resistance (AMR) testing services with an initial focus on infection control, AMR epidemiology and surveillance, clinical research and pharmaceutical anti-infectives R&D. All services are based on Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and the company’s proprietary, AI-powered antimicrobial resistance database ARESdb. The newly opened laboratory is located at the Vienna Biocenter Campus in Vienna, Austria, and will serve researchers, hospitals, public health institutions, and pharmaceutical companies world-wide.
As a first offering, the laboratory will provide whole genome sequencing of bacterial isolates for pathogen identification, typing, and drug resistance detection under the brand name ARESupa – Universal Pathogenome Assay. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) data generated by ARESupa is analyzed, interpreted, and reported through a cloud-based data interpretation reporting system that builds on ARESdb. ARESdb compiles high-resolution information on the genetics of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms. At present, ARESdb covers the genomes of about 40,000 bacterial strains and susceptibility data of more than 100 different antibiotics. Via the ARESupa test report, customers can interactively explore detailed information on the identity of pathogens as well as their genetic mechanisms of resistance, the prevalence of such mechanisms and the accuracy with which they predict resistance to specific antibiotics using Ares Genetics’ cloud-based data analytics platform.
With ARESupa, Ares Genetics aims at supporting the cost-effective analysis and management of outbreaks of multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens in hospitals and care facilities as well as facilitating antimicrobial drug development and AMR research.