GAITHERSBURG, Md., Oct. 23, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OpGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:OPGN) today announced that it has been awarded a contract from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop smartphone-based clinical decision support solutions for antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) and infection control in low- and middle-income countries. The one-year $860,000 award began September 30, 2017 and funds development and evaluation of cloud-based mobile software. OpGen will work with partners Teqqa, LLC and Universidad El Bosque (UEB) of Bogota, Colombia led by Maria Virginia Villegas, M.D., M.Sc.
“OpGen looks forward to working with the CDC to help address this urgent global need,” stated Evan Jones, Chairman & CEO of OpGen. “Improving antimicrobial stewardship worldwide has been identified by the CDC, the World Health Organization (WHO) and governments worldwide as a core activity in the fight to contain and manage infections from multidrug-resistant pathogens.”
OpGen’s teaming partner Teqqa will provide its cloud- and mobile-based software platform, which integrates electronic patient data and local empiric treatment guidelines to support antimicrobial stewardship. The Teqqa platform is a state-of-the-art mobile AMS solution that is commercially available and in use in major medical centers. The mobile platform will be extended to quickly identify patients requiring infection control precautions, assist with the implementation of appropriate precautions, and assist with the collection and tracking of indicators for monitoring implementation of infection control precautions. The software will be translated to Spanish and will support WHONET data integration.
“Connection to WHONET is a critical enabling component to this initiative,” continued Mr. Jones. “WHONET is an information system developed to support the World Health Organization’s goal of global surveillance of bacterial resistance to antimicrobial agents. WHONET analyzes the data of over 4,000 laboratories worldwide and is used in more than 120 countries.”
“Dr. Villegas and the UEB team will guide the customization of the AMS software for the needs of low- and middle-income countries. They also will work with OpGen and Teqqa to deploy the software in three medical sites in Colombia to assess the effectiveness of the effort. Through this initial pilot we hope to gain experience and positive results to support the expansion of this important initiative further,” continued Mr. Jones.
About the CDC BAA Awards
According to the CDC, it has awarded more than $9 million to explore gaps in knowledge about antibiotic resistance and pilot innovative solutions in the healthcare, veterinary and agriculture industries. The funding supports 25 projects, including eighteen academic collaborators and leading healthcare related organizations and institutions.
These awards, made through a broad agency announcement (BAA), are part of the CDC’s Antibiotic Resistance Solutions Initiative and are intended to grow the agency’s innovative approaches to combat antibiotic resistance. In fiscal years 2016 and 2017, the Antibiotic Resistance Solutions Initiative awarded more than $24 million to BAA awardees to fight antibiotic resistance.
About OpGen
OpGen, Inc. is harnessing the power of informatics and genomic analysis to provide complete solutions for patient, hospital and network-wide infection prevention and treatment. For more information, please visit www.opgen.com.
OpGen® is a registered trademark of OpGen, Inc.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes statements relating to the implementation of the contract awarded to OpGen by the CDC and the goals of the project. These statements and other statements regarding OpGen’s future plans constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that are often difficult to predict, are beyond OpGen’s control, and which may cause results to differ materially from expectations. Factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described include, but are not limited to, OpGen’s ability to successfully implement the awarded contract. For a discussion of the most significant risks and uncertainties associated with OpGen's business, please review its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are based on OpGen’s expectations as of the date of this press release and speak only as of the date of this press release. OpGen undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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