LexaGene receives high-level approval from CDC and FDA to test pathogen samples

LexaGene Holdings Inc (CVE:LXG) (OTCMKTS:LXXGF) is getting high-level support in its fight to combat one of the most severe health threats of modern times.

The biotechnology company announced Tuesday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Antibiotic Resistance Isolate Bank has recognized LexaGene as an institution able to receive samples to test antibiotic resistance.

The approval means that the CDC and FDA will give LexaGene information to support the company’s diagnostics developments and help address the serious health crisis of “superbugs,” which are resistant to normal antibiotics.

READ: LexaGene files additional US patents to protect proprietary LX2 genetic analyzer technology

It also allows LexaGene to access a full catalogue of pathogens that the company can use to improve the detection capabilities of its leading product, the LX Analyzer.

Based in Beverly, Massachusetts, the company is pioneering the first fully automated pathogen detection platform for use in diagnostics and sample analysis via its LX Analyzer.

The key feature is the open access nature of the genetic analyzer that allows end users to customize the instrument to target any pathogen of interest. The instrument is able to process multiple samples at a time, returning results within around one hour.

“LexaGene now has a formal relationship with the CDC and FDA, two agencies that view antimicrobial resistance to be the biggest health threat of our time,” said Dr Jack Regan, LexaGene’s CEO.

The biotech company will leverage the relationships to improve the performance of its technology, it said in a statement. According to Regan, antibiotic resistant pathogens are predicted to kill 10 million people by 20501.

“To avoid this dreadful prediction, we need better diagnostics to improve our antibiotic stewardship and to lower the potential for contagion transmission,” he said.

“Previously, we demonstrated success in detecting pathogens and antibiotic resistance, and with this approval, we gain access to many more pathogens than we had before,” said Dr Nathan Walsh, LexaGene’s vice president of applications and bioinformatics. 

Walsh promised to use these strains to make testing “as robust as possible.” 

Contact Angela at [email protected]

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Story by ProactiveInvestors