BioMérieux Acquires Antibiotic Susceptibility Test Firm Specific Diagnostics

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a global threat, with infections from antibiotic resistant pathogens being one of the leading causes of death around the world. For clinicians to save patients’ lives and rapidly optimize therapies, fast and accurate antimicrobial susceptibility test (AST) results and interpretation are critical. In addition to improving patient outcomes, rapid AST also reduces global AMR burdens by enabling the implementation of effective institutional Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) programs.

bioMérieux (Marcy-l'Étoile, France) has further strengthened its commitment to fight AMR with the acquisition of Specific Diagnostics (San Jose, CA, USA) which focuses on fast AST solution. Specific has developed a rapid AST system that delivers phenotypic AST directly from positive blood cultures. The SPECIFIC REVEAL Rapid AST system has been developed based on the company’s unique, patented metabolomic signature technology and offers an easy-to-use instrument with a targeted menu, small footprint, and modular design for adaptable throughput, well-suited to address the needs of clinical laboratories.

The SPECIFIC REVEAL Rapid AST system provides actionable results for Gram-negative bacteria directly from positive blood cultures in an average of five hours. This helps clinicians to address the challenge of bloodstream infections, allowing either timely de-escalation to a focused, more appropriate, and lower-cost therapy, or life-saving rapid escalation to more effective therapy where a multidrug-resistant (MDR) infection is present. SPECIFIC REVEAL seamlessly integrates with bioMérieux’s Sepsis Solution, including BACT/ALERT VIRTUO, VITEK MS PRIME, BIOFIRE BCID2, VIDAS PCT and VITEK2. With the addition of SPECIFIC REVEAL Rapid AST, the bioMérieux Sepsis Solution allows same-day AST results for Gram-negative bacteria to enable more targeted therapy and improve patient outcomes.

“This acquisition reinforces our long-standing commitment to sustain antibiotic efficacy for future generations,” said Alexandre Mérieux, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, bioMérieux. “With the addition of Specific Diagnostics’ REVEAL Rapid AST system into our microbiology portfolio, bioMérieux further supports clinicians and laboratories in further improving patient outcomes and enhancing antimicrobial stewardship, leveraging our extensive distribution network.”

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