TUCSON, Ariz., Nov. 3, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc. (Nasdaq:AXDX), an in vitro diagnostics company dedicated to providing solutions for the global challenge of drug resistant organisms, today announced that it has entered into a research collaboration with the Rapid Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Laboratory at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop tests for the rapid analysis of antibiotic-resistant biothreat agents based on Accelerate's high-speed identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing platform.

Bacterial, biothreat agents and diseases such as anthrax, tularemia and plague pose significant national security and public health risks. While infections with these pathogens are rare in the United States, they can be disseminated or transmitted from person-to-person and result in high mortality rates. They therefore require special public health preparedness and surveillance so that any potential biothreat activity or disease outbreaks can be rapidly identified and contained. Early detection, isolation and treatment with effective antibiotics are critical to cure patients and limit the spread of disease. 

Unfortunately, conventional testing methods available in hospital and public health labs can take several days to produce results. These methods are therefore unable to provide critical, time sensitive information to the healthcare community, denying caregivers the opportunity to manage infection and prevent outbreaks at the earliest stage.

Accelerate Diagnostics is developing a fully integrated, easy-to-use platform that provides high-speed identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing of pathogens, working directly from patient samples. The platform enables laboratories to provide critical microbiology results in hours instead of days. 

As part of the collaboration with the CDC laboratory, Accelerate Diagnostics will use its expertise to develop assays for rapid identification of key bacterial biothreat agents, their virulence markers, and their antibiotic susceptibility and resistance profiles. The CDC will provide scientific expertise on the microbiology and molecular biology of biothreat agents, and will evaluate and optimize the performance of the platform, using its collection of biothreat agents. As part of the agreement, the CDC has purchased the Accelerate ID/AST platform for use in their laboratory.

"Early detection of highly infectious bacteria, including biothreat agents, and determination of their susceptibility to specific antibiotics are essential for patient management and protection of public health," said Larry Mehren, CEO of Accelerate Diagnostics. "We are honored and highly motivated to be working with the CDC on this critical public health and national security project."

About Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc.

Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc. (Nasdaq:AXDX), is an in vitro diagnostics company focused on developing and commercializing innovative systems for the rapid identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of infectious pathogens. The company's revolutionary ID/AST platform utilizes a proprietary process with both genomic and phenotypic detection technologies that significantly decreases time to result while achieving high sensitivity and specificity. In addition to the Accelerate ID/AST System development pipeline, the company also owns and licenses its proprietary OptiChem™ surface coatings technology, which has numerous applications for binding in bio-analytical systems, such as microarrays.  For more information, visit: www.acceleratediagnostics.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains words such as "expects," "shall," "will," "believes" and other similar expressions that are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Such statements in this announcement are made based on the company's current beliefs, known events and circumstances at the time of publication and, as such, are subject in the future to unforeseen risks and uncertainties that could cause the company's results of operations, performance and achievements to differ materially from current expectations expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements.  For a full discussion of the company's risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in Item 1A in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on March 7, 2014.  In addition, the company's forward-looking statements could be affected by general industry and market conditions and growth rates.  Except as required by federal securities laws, the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements to reflect new events, uncertainties or other contingencies.

CONTACT: Media Contact:

         Matt RussellRussell Public Communications

         520.232.9840

         mrussell@russellpublic.com



         Investor Contact:

         Clare MatschullatBlueprint Life Science Group

         415.375.3340 Ext. 106

         cmatschullat@bplifescience.com

Source:  Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc.

News Provided by Acquire Media