- Augmented direct sales force, led by new Head of International Sales, to broaden reach in key European markets
- New distribution partnerships in Italy and Middle East
HOLZGERLINGEN, Germany, April 20, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Curetis AG, a developer of next-level molecular diagnostic solutions, today announced the strategic expansion of its sales and marketing program in Europe and the Middle East. The company appointed Klaudija Kiesinger as Head of International Sales for Western Europe and will add four new members to its broader international sales and marketing team by mid-year, bringing the total commercial team size to 14. With this sales force expansion, Curetis has added the U.K., France and the Benelux region (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) to its direct-sales markets.
In addition, the Company announced its increased reach into Italy and the Middle East with exclusive, multi-year distribution partnerships. Curetis will distribute the Unyvero Solution through Arrow Diagnostics in Italy and Al Zahrawi Medical in the Middle East (Qatar and the United Arab Emirates).
"Curetis began building its direct sales force and establishing key account management infrastructure for the German-speaking DACH markets of Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 2012," said Oliver Schacht, Ph.D., CEO of Curetis. "The expansion of our direct sales capability into the U.K., France and Benelux is an important next step in the execution of our growth strategy that builds on the success we have had in our home markets. In addition to increasing sales revenue and gross margins, direct sales typically accelerate time to market, give us more direct customer access and provide more control over platform placements."
"Rapid, early detection of pathogens and antibiotic resistances is key for combating the growing threat of multi-resistant germs," said Gianluigi Mascarino, President and CEO of Arrow Diagnostics. "We have conducted careful due diligence of several platforms in the multiplex infectious disease testing space. Unyvero clearly stands out in terms of multiplexing capabilities, broad coverage of analytes and flexibility in processing a large variety of patient sample types. We believe this will be a key differentiating factor on the Italian market."
"In our region, there is unmet medical need for rapid infectious disease diagnostics," said Abdulrahman Ramadan, Executive Director UAE & QATAR of Al Zahrawi Medical company. "We have high prevalence rates of serious antibiotic resistance in our hospitals and are therefore excited about the opportunity to address this challenge effectively with the Unyvero Solution."
Since 2012, Curetis has grown to an installed base of more than 60 Unyvero analyzers. The Company currently has 80 systems in the supply chain for 2015, affording customers the potential to run assays covering more than 100 analytes in two highly-multiplexed application cartridges (P55 for pneumonia and i60 for implant and tissue infections). In 2015, the Unyvero product pipeline will be expanded and enhanced by the BC70 Blood Culture Application cartridge. In the coming years, Curetis plans to add further cartridge applications in the fields of sepsis, gastrointestinal tract infections, tuberculosis, CNS infections and pediatrics, among others.
At present, there are several investigator-initiated clinical studies in pediatric applications underway. Various potential pharma projects using Unyvero in clinical trial designs for the development of novel antibiotics afford Curetis additional opportunities for commercial expansion.
In addition to these platform and product enhancements, the Company is expanding its geographic scope, with an FDA trial underway in the U.S. and pre-commercial activities in Asia and other non-European countries.
Further details about the Unyvero platform are available at the new Unyvero product website – www.unyvero.com. The new site details the Unyvero range of products and hosts key Unyvero scientific and clinical publications and posters for download.
Disclaimer
CAUTION - Investigational device. Limited by Federal (or United States) law to investigational use. The information contained in this communication does not constitute nor imply an offer to sell or transfer any product, and no product based on the Curetis Unyvero technology is currently available for sale in the United States of America or Canada. The analytical and clinical performance characteristics of any Curetis Unyvero product which may be sold at some future point in time in the U.S. have not yet been established.
About the Unyvero System
The CE-marked Unyvero System is a versatile hardware platform for the detection of a broad panel of bacteria, fungi and antibiotic resistances from a single sample in one run. It processes a disposable cartridge providing the necessary reagents to complete the analysis from sample to result. It is marketed in Europe, Russia, the Middle East and various other non-European countries. In the U.S., Curetis is running a prospective multi-center clinical trial aimed at achieving FDA clearance registered here.
The platform enables the DNA-based testing of all clinically relevant samples in a fully automated, unsupervised analysis process requiring only few, quick manual preparation steps. The analysis thus can be performed with minimal operator time and without the need of skilled staff or special infrastructure.
Thereby, clinically relevant information is available within about four to five hours to support an informed therapy decision as early as possible.
The CE-marked Unyvero P55 Cartridge focuses on pneumonia testing and simultaneously analyses 40 DNA targets. The second CE-marked application, the Unyvero i60 ITI cartridge for implant & tissue infections, is also commercially available in Europe and is currently being evaluated in the prospective multi-center EPJIC study.
Cartridges for additional indications are in various stages of development and preparation.
For further information, please visit www.unyvero.com.
About Curetis AG
Founded in 2007, Curetis AG is a molecular diagnostics company, which focuses on the development and commercialization of reliable, fast and cost-effective products for diagnosing severe infectious diseases. The diagnostic solutions of Curetis AG enable rapid multi-parameter pathogen and antibiotic resistance detection in only a few hours, a process that today can take up to days or even weeks with other techniques.
To date, Curetis has raised total funds of over EUR 63.5 million (>US$ 70 million). The company is based in Holzgerlingen near Stuttgart, Germany. Curetis has signed collaboration agreements with Heraeus Medical and Cempra Inc. as well as several international distribution agreements covering many countries across Europe and the Middle East.
For further information, please visit www.curetis.com.