The CE-IVD marked Unyvero Application Cartridge, UTI, for the diagnosis of severe urinary tract infections will be launched during ECCMID 2018.

The Unyvero UTI Cartridge covers 103 diagnostic targets. The 88 pathogens that can be detected with Unyvero UTI include a broad range of Gram-positive, Gram-negative species as well as difficult to culture anaerobic bacteria and Candida auris, a multi-drug resistant pathogenic fungus that is of increasing concern, particularly in immunocompromised hospitalized patients.

Unyvero UTI also detects 15 genetic markers of antibiotic resistances including the mcr-1 antibiotic resistance gene, which results in resistance to colistin, one of the few last-resort antibiotics for Gram-negative infections. Similar to other Unyvero Applications, Unyvero UTI allows the rapid detection of pathogens and genetic resistance markers in a broad range of routinely available patient sample types, such as midstream urine, catheter urine, suprapubic aspiration, and tissue.

The prospective, multi-center clinical performance evaluation study for CE-IVD marking was conducted at Curetis and three clinical centers in France and Germany. The study, which analyzed a total of 443 patient samples, validated the excellent performance of Unyvero UTI: overall weighted average sensitivity for the pathogens specifically targeted by the test panel was 95.6% at an overall weighted average specificity of 99.3%. The Positive Predictive Value (PPV) was 95.8%, and the Negative Predictive Value (NPV) 99.2%.

The novel Unyvero UTI Cartridge primarily targets urinary tract infections in patients with complicated and severe UTIs. This includes pregnant woman, pediatric patients, and hospitalized patients with anatomical, structural and functional alterations, renal impairments and impaired immune status, as well as catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), patients failing to respond to therapy, and urosepsis.

“The UTI Cartridge is a highly comprehensive tool for the diagnosis of urinary tract infections,” said Prof. Cattoir, University Hospital of Rennes, France , one of the sites participating in the performance evaluation study. “We have been eagerly awaiting a diagnostic solution with such fast time-to-result and broad coverage, including numerous pathogens that are difficult to culture as well as pathogens that are of increasing clinical concern such as Candida auris, a multi-drug resistant pathogenic yeast that was only recently discovered in Japan. It is becoming increasingly prevalent in Europe and other regions, and requires special attention by physicians.

Unyvero UTI’s ability to detect the mcr1 antibiotic resistance gene is also significant, given that it confers plasmid-mediated resistance to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic for treating Gram-negative infections.” “This new product further enhances our portfolio of Unyvero cartridges for hospital-acquired infections,” said Dr. Achim Plum, CBO of Curetis. “With the launch of Unyvero UTI, clinicians now have access to Unyvero cartridges that cover all primary infections which may lead to sepsis, still the number one cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and the most significant cause of death in non-coronary intensive care units.”

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