Arup Laboratories and IDbyDNA Inc have launched the Explify Respiratory next-generation sequencing (NGS) test for respiratory infections.
The test is now available to Arup’s 3,000-plus clients across the country, providing a new solution for thousands of physicians who currently experience difficulty in diagnosing and treating patients with pneumonia and other respiratory diseases.
This is the first in a line of tests the two companies intend to launch as part of a previously announced strategic partnership to develop and commercialize novel infectious disease testing using metagenomics. This hypothesis-free approach to infectious disease testing uses DNA and RNA analysis to quickly identify bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites in patient samples.
“Other available tests are frequently unsuccessful and inefficient in identifying the cause of respiratory infections, prolonging the diagnostic process and leaving infectious disease physicians, pulmonologists, and intensivists to treat patients empirically,” says Charles Dela Cruz, MD, PhD, an associate professor of Internal Medicine and Microbial Pathogenesis at Yale University School of Medicine and director of its Center for Pulmonary Infection Research and Treatment.
Explify Respiratory was developed to address this diagnostic quandary. It detects more than 200 common and rare bacterial, fungal, and viral respiratory pathogens with a single test. By providing more comprehensive and actionable information within a clinically relevant turnaround time, Explify Respiratory testing can help reduce inappropriate antibiotic use, avoid sequential testing, and potentially shorten hospital stays. The test is powered by IDbyDNA’s Taxonomer software, a DNA search engine that can rapidly identify any organism by its genetic material.
“Explify Respiratory will provide clinicians with another valuable tool in solving diagnostic dilemmas, enabling them to deliver more personalized treatments for their patients,” adds Dela Cruz.
