Immunexpress Secures BARDA Contract for the Continued Development of SeptiCyte™ for the Rapid and Accurate Diagnosis of Sepsis

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Feb 06, 2019, 08:00 ET

SEATTLE, Feb. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Immunexpress, Inc. today announced its partnership with the DRIVe Solving Sepsis Initiative, a collaboration in which DRIVe will contribute $744,739 of a $3.2M project for the development and commercialization of Immunexpress' SeptiCyte™ technology on the Biocartis Idylla™ platform. This development will result in a tool capable of a 90-minute, sample-to-result diagnosis in patients suspected of sepsis.

DRIVe (Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures) supports the development of innovative products and approaches that aim to solve major health security challenges. DRIVe is an initiative of BARDA (Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"The support provided to Immunexpress by BARDA through DRIVe further validates the potential of our SeptiCyte™ technology and enables an accelerated development pathway for the product," said Rolland D. Carlson, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Immunexpress. "With this support, we can provide our SeptiCyte™ technology, translated on the Biocartis Idylla™ platform, to ICUs and military field-hospitals around the world. Our sample-to-result assay can address the high unmet need for rapid, accurate diagnosis of sepsis. This represents an important step in providing the fastest, most accurate care to patients suspected of sepsis."

Immunexpress SeptiCyte™ technology is a precision diagnostic tool that evaluates a set of patented gene-expression biomarkers from the patient's blood using mathematical algorithms to differentiate sepsis and infection negative systemic inflammation, as well as identifies whether the sepsis infection is viral or bacterial.

Sepsis kills some 270,000 Americans each year and is the most expensive hospital condition to treat[1]. Sepsis occurs when the body's efforts to fight an infection results in a dysregulated immune response and inflammation that can cause serious tissue damage, organ failure and death. Sepsis is difficult to diagnose and distinguish from other inflammatory conditions and can take days to accurately diagnose, therefore impacting clinical decisions.

About Immunexpress
Immunexpress is a Seattle-based molecular diagnostic company committed to improving outcomes for patients suspected of sepsis. Immunexpress' SeptiCyte™ technology rapidly quantifies, directly from whole blood, specific molecular markers from the patient's own immune system – the 'host response'. SeptiCyte LAB, recently cleared by the FDA, is the first of its kind in using the host immune system to differentiate systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and sepsis. Detecting the host's response to infection has the potential to differentiate infection earlier, faster and more accurately than finding the invading pathogen because it is independent of whether or not the pathogen is present in the sample. Immunexpress' pipeline includes several sample-to-answer assays for near patient testing.

For more information visit http://www.immunexpress.com/.

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Media Contacts:
Maggie Beller
Russo Partners, LLC
(646) 942-5631
[email protected]

[1] Torio and Andrews, "National Inpatient Hospital Costs: The Most Expensive Conditions by Payer", 2011: Statistical Brief #160. In: "Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Statistical Briefs, Rockville (MD)": Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (US) 2006-2013. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK169005/

SOURCE Immunexpress, Inc.