Magnolia Medical Awarded VA Federal Supply Contract for Steripath

Contract Gives Veterans Access to Ground-Breaking Blood Culture Collection Device That Improves Patient Safety and Supports Antimicrobial Stewardship

News provided by

Magnolia Medical Technologies

Feb 13, 2018, 10:10 ET

SEATTLE, Feb. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Magnolia Medical Technologies announced today that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded the company a five-year Federal Supply Schedule contract to provide the Steripath Initial Specimen Diversion Device^® (ISDD^®) for use in the system's hospitals and treatment facilities.

Steripath^® is a mechanical blood culture collection device that has been clinically proven to virtually eliminate blood culture contamination which can lead to the misdiagnosis of blood stream infections including sepsis. Effective immediately, the federal contract provides all government facilities, including hospitals and medical centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DoD), the ability to provide the benefits of this novel device to their patients.

"It is inspiring to see our government hospitals and medical centers taking a lead in improving the standard of care for our veterans, active military personnel, and their families," said Greg Bullington, CEO and co-founder of Magnolia Medical Technologies. "Through the efforts of the dedicated healthcare professionals within the VA and DoD systems, this patient population will benefit from significant improvements in sepsis testing accuracy, preventing unnecessary antibiotic therapy and the associated risk of developing antibiotic-resistant infections and complications."

Each year, tens of millions of patients in the U.S. require a blood culture to help diagnose sepsis and other potentially deadly bloodstream infections. However, even when standard practices are followed, an average of 40 percent of positive results are actually false positives due to blood culture contamination.

False positive blood culture results are attributable to many factors. For instance, contaminants may be introduced during assembly and preparation of supplies. Blood cultures can also be contaminated by bacteria-containing skin fragments that become dislodged during a blood culture draw and enter the blood sample.

The diagnostic inaccuracy caused by contaminants puts a significant number of patients at risk of being misdiagnosed with sepsis – and then unnecessarily treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics such as vancomycin.

For many patients, the risks of unnecessary antibiotics include antibiotic-related infections and complications, extended hospital stay and associated hospital-acquired conditions. Unnecessary antibiotic treatment due to false positive blood cultures also contributes to antibiotic resistance and undermines nationwide efforts to improve antimicrobial stewardship.

A closed-system device, the Steripath ISDD mechanically diverts, sequesters, and isolates the initial 1.5-2.0 mL of blood, the portion known to contain contaminants. The device then opens an independent, second sterile blood flow path to the culture bottles. Use of the device has been clinically proven to reduce blood culture contamination by 92 percent with a 12-month sustained contamination rate of 0.2 percent. This results in a 97 percent positive predictive value for the diagnosis of blood stream infections including sepsis for patients with positive blood culture results.

Steripath has become the standard of care for blood cultures drawn in a rapidly growing number of hospitals across the U.S., including many VA and DoD facilities. Through clinical studies, these hospitals have seen up to a 92 percent reduction in blood culture contamination and subsequent 37 percent reduction in vancomycin days of therapy, which helps improve antimicrobial stewardship and prevent antimicrobial resistance.

About Magnolia Medical Technologies
Magnolia Medical Technologies is a medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets innovative blood and bodily fluid collection devices that significantly improve the accuracy, consistency and predictability of critical in vitro diagnostic (IVD) tests. False positive and false negative laboratory test results in the acute care setting create confusion and uncertainty with clinicians that commonly lead to inappropriate, unnecessary treatments. These misdiagnoses often significantly increase utilization of antibiotics and associated complications as well as patient length of stay and risk for healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs). Through human factor engineering and mechanically eliminating preventable errors that cause inaccurate test results, Magnolia Medical's products significantly improve patient safety, care and experience; drive antimicrobial stewardship; and reduce hospital costs. The company has amassed an extensive IP portfolio protecting its products, including over 50 issued method, apparatus and design patents with over 46 additional patent applications pending. The total potential market for Magnolia Medical's devices and technology exceeds $1.5 billion annually. For more information, visit www.magnolia-medical.com.

Contact: Liz Dowling, (415) 388-2794
Dowling & Dennis Public Relations
E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Magnolia Medical Technologies