Roche Diagnostics and SpeeDx partner to expand access to infectious disease and antibiotic resistance tests

MedTech News: Australian SpeeDx, a developer of innovative molecular diagnostic solutions, has partnered with Roche in a non-exclusive agreement to expand global access to SpeeDx infectious disease and antibiotic resistance tests and technology.

“This agreement is a significant inflection point for our company and will enable more patients and clinicians around the world to access key diagnostic tools for the management of antibiotic resistance,” said Colin Denver, SpeeDx CEO. “Our innovative diagnostic tests go beyond simple pathogen detection and support Resistance Guided Therapy – providing information on antibiotic resistance to empower clinicians with the information they need to make appropriate treatment decisions.”

Rising rates of antibiotic resistance are a serious global problem. New, technologically advanced diagnostics help clinicians choose the best targeted therapy for individual patients based on the resistance status of their infection. This helps conserve certain treatment options to better control the spread of resistant infections.

SpeeDx offers diagnostics tests for the sexually transmitted infections (STIs) gonorrhea and Mycoplasma genitalium (Mgen). These STIs are now listed by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as key threats due to the concerning rise of resistance and the limited available treatment options. Disease management guidelines around the world now focus on the use of resistance identifying diagnostics to help inform treatment.

“The agreement with SpeeDx will allow Roche Diagnostics to provide clinicians with important new tools for detecting antibiotic resistance in patients with sexually transmitted infections,” said Mario Torres, Head of Roche Molecular Diagnostics.

Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will have non-exclusive access to SpeeDx existing tests and technology – to enable global access and expansion of diagnostic products for the management of antibiotic resistance in STIs, and quickly bring new products to a broader group of patients.