Summary: Karius has secured a contract from BARDA DRIVe, valued at over $600,000, to expand its pathogen detection capabilities to include RNA pathogens, advancing its mission to provide rapid, comprehensive diagnostics.

Takeaways:

  1. Contract Award: Karius received a $600,000 contract from BARDA DRIVe to extend its DNA pathogen detection technology to include RNA pathogens, enhancing diagnostic capabilities across a variety of human samples.
  2. Broader Diagnostic Reach: This contract aligns with Karius’ ongoing efforts to develop scalable tests for rapid pathogen identification, building on their success with the Karius Test, which has already been used in over 60,000 hospitalized patients.
  3. Strategic Advancements: The project follows Karius’ $100M Series C funding and FDA Breakthrough Device designation, supporting the expansion of their metagenomics technology and its application in diagnosing and managing infections in immunocompromised patients.

Karius has been awarded a contract from the Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures (DRIVe), under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Valued over $600,000, the contract enables Karius to extend its current DNA pathogen detection capabilities to include RNA pathogen detection from a variety of human samples.

“We are delighted to partner with BARDA DRIVe in developing highly scalable tests that can rapidly identify any type of pathogen anywhere in the body,” says Tim Blauwkamp, chief scientific officer and co-founder of Karius. “Our agnostic test for DNA pathogens has already served over 60,000 hospitalized patients, and this new project brings our vision of rapid, comprehensive diagnostics for every patient one step closer.”

This contract follows a $100M Series C announcement earlier in the year to expand its Karius Test beyond the 400 U.S. hospitals currently using it and to support research into the broader applications of Karius’ metagenomics technology. Additionally, Karius announced that the Karius Test has been granted designation as a Breakthrough Device from The Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for use in the diagnosis and management of immunocompromised patients with suspected lung infections including lower respiratory infection and pneumonia.

Further reading: Karius Test Gets Breakthrough Device Designation for Infectious Disease Diagnosis

This project has been supported in whole or in part with federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services; Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, under contract number 75A50124C00023.