Breakthrough in Assessing Atypical Bacterial Pneumonias

Prodesse, Inc. have announced the commercial release of its Pneumoplex® assay in Real Time format. This test is the first commercially available assay to use all available detection channels on Real Time instrumentation. Three channels are used to detect simultaneously the three most common bacterial causes of atypical pneumonia (mycoplasma, chlamydia and legionella), while the remaining channel is used for an internal control.

Current techniques for identifying these bacteria are slow and often inaccurate. With Pneumoplex Real Time, CLIA-certified labs will be able to give clinicians same-day results. With hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations for these agents each year in the US alone, this test represents a major step forward in the ability to isolate and identify the specific pathogens responsible for these diseases.

The atypical bacteria detected by Pneumoplex may be responsible, by some estimates, for nearly half of all pneumonias. Because these particular pathogens can take several weeks to culture, clinicians must treat their patients without identification of underlying pathogen.

Tests currently available suffer from both lack of sensitivity and specificity and are designed to target only a single pathogen. Because the selection of drugs and the course of the disease can vary greatly depending upon the underlying pathogen, Pneumoplex may help clinicians determine the most appropriate treatment regimen for their patients - improving the quality of patient care while reducing cost.

Tom Shannon, President and CEO of Prodesse, noted, 'With our Pneumoplex product now available on a Real Time platform, many more labs will now be able to improve their detection capabilities for these organisms. This release is only the first step in our efforts to make our assays work on a variety of platforms, including Real Time, microchips and microbeads - all of which are of great interest to the diagnostic and research communities.'

Prodesse reagents incorporate proprietary technology that allow for the detection of multiple pathogens in a single test. There are currently nine different multiplex products covering 29 different organisms. The products can be used on a variety of detection platforms. Prodesse Inc. also sells its reagents to laboratories throughout the US and the world, and operates a CLIA certified laboratory for testing services in the Midwest area.