LexaGene Holdings Inc. (TSX-V:LXG, OTCQB:LXXGF) announced that it successfully utilized its MiQLab System to correctly identify bacteria and determine the presence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) markers that predict resistance to commonly prescribed first-line veterinary antibiotics.
The Beverly, Massachusetts-based molecular diagnostics company noted that decades of over-use of antibiotics has resulted in a drastic rise in pathogens that are difficult to treat due to their evolution and resistance. With very few new drugs in development, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicts antimicrobial resistant pathogens will kill more than 10 million people per year in less than 30 years.
To put this into perspective, over 3 million people died of COVID-19 in 2020, which would equate to just one-third of the yearly expected impact from drug resistant bacteria, according to the company.
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Providers have been slow to implement changes in drug prescription practices due to a lack of technologies that quickly tell us about drug resistance at the point-of-care, noted the company.
At the largest veterinary trade shows in September, LexaGene was the only company exhibiting a product capable of rapid pathogen identification and AMR detection at the point-of-care. Not surprisingly, the technology was met with great enthusiasm.
In a statement, LexaGene founder CEO Jack Regan, said: “The results from this study prove that the MiQLab is extremely accurate. LexaGene’s MiQLab has already started to help veterinarians with evidence-based decision making at the point-of-care, and these actions are critical to averting the grim projections on the number of future deaths due to AMR pathogens.”
“We are happy that we are gaining momentum in veterinary diagnostics and expect our technology to eventually be considered a ‘must-have’ for veterinary hospitals interested in offering best-in-class service,” he added.
He pointed out that veterinary studies show that 18% of urine samples taken from animals suspected of having a urinary tract infection (UTI) test positive for pathogens, but getting the information takes nearly five days. Many veterinarians are unwilling to wait this long for test results and empirically prescribe drugs to pets suspected of having an infection because they are fearful of not treating a potentially dangerous infection.
“Such over-use of antibiotics has increased the prevalence of drug resistant pathogens and veterinarians are now increasingly caring for patients with unresolved infections, which can sometimes lead to euthanizing a pet, which contributes to caregiver depression,” said Regan.
About the study
The study used two sets of bacterial pathogens. The first set consisted of 32 sequenced strains from the CDC Antibiotic Resistance Isolate Bank. The second set included 74 bacterial isolates from dogs with urinary tract infections. These isolates were not sequenced and have only culture-based drug resistance profiles associated with them.
“MiQLab Systems, equipped with MiQLab Bacterial and AMR Test V2 panels, recorded 100% and 99.1% overall percent agreements for pathogen identification for the sequenced CDC pathogens and the non-sequenced canine UTI isolates, respectively,” reported the company.
Similarly, the MiQLab recorded 96.2% and 92.5% overall percent agreements for antimicrobial resistance for the sequenced CDC pathogens and non-sequenced canine UTI isolates for which only culture data is available.
The company said an in-depth version of the data is being compiled for a peer-reviewed publication. LexaGene said the MiQLab Bacterial and AMR Test V2 detects 10 common pathogens and 33 genes and variants that confer resistance to four classes of antimicrobials (beta-lactams, lincosamides, sulfa-TMP, and tetracyclines).
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive