Contact:
Thomas V. Geimer, CEO
Tel: 303-863-8088
tom.geimer@accelr8.com
Accelr8 Reports New Benchmark
for Measuring Bacterial Growth
Accelr8 Technology Corporation (Amex:AXK) today reported a key advance in the development of the BACcel™ rapid bacterial analysis system. The company's scientists report that their methods can now measure bacterial growth in less than 10 minutes after bacterial sample extraction. This performance enables the BACcel system to quickly count and distinguish live bacteria that cause serious infections in the ICU from dead or dormant organisms. Definitive diagnosis of some important infections, such as pneumonia, requires bacterial counts in order to avoid misinterpretation caused by contaminants picked up while taking a specimen.
By counting live cells, the BACcel can provide critical data that cannot be obtained with existing rapid methods such as immunoassay or gene identification. Most existing rapid methods are directed toward screening carriers of dangerous organisms but not to guide treatment of infected patients. The BACcel is the only system known by Accelr8's scientists to have the ability to report results quickly enough to help the physician select initial antibiotic therapy for critically ill patients.
Current lab methods require a minimum of overnight culture to provide quantitative analysis and pathogen identification, which is too late to help the physician choose appropriate antibiotics for initial empiric therapy. Studies have shown that initial empiric therapy, lacking guidance from culture results, fails to control the infection in approximately 20% to 40% of cases in most hospitals. Accelr8 intends to solve this problem by eliminating bacterial cultures and analyzing bacteria extracted directly from patient specimens. Based on current data, the scientists believe that the system will be able to identify and count organisms in less than two hours, and identify major antibiotic resistance mechanisms in less than six hours after receiving a specimen.
With these and other advances, the scientists believe that the system now has the sensitivity needed to directly analyze lung fluids and other bacteria-rich specimens.
Accelr8's president, David Howson, said “the progress made by our science team and product designers puts us on track for our planned placement of two prototype systems in outside research labs late this year. Independent outside validation will parallel our internal development path as we move toward research commercialization in 2008 and data collection for regulatory submission.”
About Accelr8
Accelr8 Technology Corporation (www.accelr8.com) is a developer of innovative materials and instrumentation for advanced applications in medical instrumentation, basic research, drug discovery, and bio-detection. Accelr8 is developing rapid clinical pathogen platforms, the BACcel™-1.0 and the BACcelr8r™, based on its innovative surface coatings, assay processing, and detection technologies. In addition, Accelr8 licenses certain of its proprietary technology for use in applications outside of Accelr8's own products.
Certain statements in this news release may be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements regarding future prospects and developments are based upon current expectations and involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from the forward-looking statement, including those detailed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Accelr8 does not undertake an obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or future events.
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