BD and Bruker collaborate to transform bacterial and fungal
diagnostics
21 Jan 2011
BD Diagnostics, a segment of BD (Becton, Dickinson and
Company), and Bruker Daltonics Inc., a subsidiary of Bruker Corporation,
has announced an international co-development and co-marketing
collaboration that will promote an emerging, integrated approach to
bacterial and fungal identification and antimicrobial susceptibility
testing.
This new approach has the potential to transform how traditional
microbiology has been performed for decades.
Through this collaboration, identification of microorganisms will
be performed with the Bruker MALDI Biotyper, a mass
spectrometry-based proteomic 'fingerprinting' system specifically
configured for rapid identification of bacteria, yeast and fungi.
The MALDI Biotyper is available in a clinical version with IVD-CE
mark in Europe and is for research use only (RUO) in the United
States, where Bruker intends to seek FDA clearance.
BD and Bruker intend to combine the MALDI Biotyper microbial ID
system with automated antimicrobial susceptibility testing on the BD
Phoenix Microbiology System. The BD EpiCenter Microbiology Data
Management System, which will manage patient data from both the
identification and the susceptibility test systems, will facilitate
this industry-first integrated approach.
The MALDI Biotyper - BD EpiCenter software integration will be
further developed to optimize workflows for rapid MALDI Biotyper
pathogen identification directly on positive blood cultures from the
leading BD BACTEC blood culture system.
This rapid blood culture-to-ID workflow is supported by Bruker's
new MALDI Sepsityper consumables kit, which today is for RUO. It is
expected to become clinically important in the future, as
time-to-result for pathogen identification is critical to management
of patients having potentially serious bloodstream infections or
sepsis.
"This collaboration is ideal because the competencies of the two
organizations will complement each other by providing excellent
microbiology solutions for the customer," said Jamie Condie, Vice
President and General Manager, Infectious Disease, BD Diagnostics -
Diagnostic Systems.
"We have chosen to collaborate with Bruker because we believe
that its mass spectrometry technologies are the future of microbial
identification, and that the MALDI Biotyper is the first and best
solution to the market. We expect this collaboration will result in
enhanced clinical responsiveness while improving lab efficiency."
"At Bruker, we are excited about this new strategic collaboration
with BD because of the potential it holds to significantly advance
clinical microbiology," said Frank Laukien, Ph.D., President and CEO
of Bruker Corporation. "Working with a worldwide leader in
microbiology and infectious disease will enable us to further expand
the groundbreaking MALDI Biotyper molecular method for microbial ID
to its full extent."
Microbial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing
is the end-point of the major work a microbiology lab performs on a
daily basis. After culturing and isolating bacteria and fungi from
patient specimens, organisms need to be identified and tested to
determine which drugs will inhibit or stop their growth.
The Bruker MALDI Biotyper allows highly accurate, rapid and
cost-effective identification through a process in which organisms
are identified by the unique spectrum of the major proteins and
peptides that constitute their makeup. The accuracy and benefits of
the MALDI Biotyper have been well documented in over 30
peer-reviewed articles.
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing is conducted via traditional
automated systems such as the BD Phoenix System. The combination of
the two leading technologies, the BD Phoenix System and the MALDI
Biotyper, and the data management through the BD EpiCenter System,
will provide laboratorians with a groundbreaking new approach to
identification and susceptibility testing, which will reduce the
turnaround time for critical diagnostic results, while also
improving laboratory efficiency and costs.