Fluidigm, OpGen to Develop Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms Test Kits

Fluidigm and OpGen will co-develop test kits and custom analytic instruments for the identification, screening and surveillance testing of multi-drug resistant organisms, consisting of bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens.

The five-year deal will see the companies’ new MDRO products relying on Fluidigm’s components and instruments, including the Juno instrument for SNP genotyping assays and the Biomark system for endpoint and real-time polymerase chain reaction detection. OpGen, in turn, will provide molecular testing services and information analytics.

The agreement marks an extension of an existing partnership between Gaithersburg, Md.-based OpGen and South San Francisco, Calif., devicemaker Fluidigm. OpGen’s Acuitas MDRO gene test and resistome test already incorporate Fluidigm’s microfluidic technology.

In the U.S., more than 2 million people suffer from antibiotic-resistant infections, according to OpGen estimates. — Jason Scott