LexaGene Holdings Inc has said it has finalized the design of the MiQLab Pneumonia Panel for companion animals and completed initial multiplex testing.
In June, LexaGene and Ethos Discovery partnered to develop a pneumonia panel to expand the utility of the MiQLab in veterinary diagnostics.
Since then, the molecular diagnostic company said it has been working closely with Ethos Discovery to design and validate a panel for rapidly determining the cause of pneumonia while simultaneously screening for antimicrobial resistance factors that should be taken into account when treating such infections in companion animals.
Respiratory illnesses can cause significant health concerns for the animals and can have a significant financial impact on pet care businesses, such as hospitals, kennels, shelters, and dog daycare camps, which often have to shut down in the event of an outbreak, the company noted.
LexaGene Holdings in partnership to develop new diagnostics tests for companion animals
“The MiQLab Pneumonia Panel will be our second product launched for veterinary diagnostics and it will significantly expand the utility of the MiQLab,” LexaGene CEO and founder Dr Jack Regan said in a statement.
“Our first panel, the MiQLab Bacterial and AMR V2 Test is currently being used for definitive diagnosis of infections such as those involving the urinary tract, skin, wound, and ear.
“Because there are many different pathogens that cause acute respiratory distress, we designed a panel to specifically help veterinarians quickly diagnose respiratory illness in animals for impactful care and treatment decisions.”
LexaGene said Ethos has collected some respiratory samples and has agreed to send them to LexaGene so that it can complete an analytical evaluation of the panel. As a next step, Ethos Discovery will conduct a clinical evaluation of the pneumonia panel on their purchased MiQLab.
The MiQLab Pneumonia Panel includes 13 assays targeting bacteria and four assays targeting fungi, plus 19 assays targeting antimicrobial resistance genes.
Specifically, the bacterial targets include: Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Enterococcus, Klebsiella, Bordetella, Staphylococcus, Pasteurella, Escherichia coli, Actinomyces, Streptococcus, Mycoplasma, an assay to detect a subset of Gram-positive bacteria, and an assay to target a subset of the Gram-negative bacteria. The fungal targets include: Histoplasma, Blastomyces, Coccidioides, and Cryptococcus; and the antimicrobial resistance targets include: tetA, tetB, tetC, tetG, tetD, tetJ, tetK, tetL, tetM, tetO, tetS, tet38, CMY, SHV, TEM, CTX-M-1, CTX-M-9, mecA, and gyrA (fluoriquinolone resistance in Klebsiella and Pseudomonas).
To develop the product, LexaGene said the following have been completed:
- Selection of targets for inclusion in panel
- Multiple in-silico PCR designs for each target
- Wet lab single-plex testing of all designs to select the best performing assays
- Confirmation that single-plex assays maintain performance in a multiplex format.
The company said it is possible that through the process of further analytical evaluation and clinical validation, that it may be necessary to modify the final panel to be commercialized.
“The opportunity to diagnose and treat pet animals with complex medical problems, such as pneumonia, using a point of care instrument will significantly improve outcomes for veterinary patients,” commented Dr. Chand Khanna, the president of Ethos Discovery.
“Currently, it takes days to get culture-based test results back from a reference laboratory, which delays the initiation of life-saving treatments for patients.
“Furthermore, rapidly determining whether any antimicrobial resistance was also detected would improve the efficacy of treatment plans.”
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com