Skip to main content
Premium Trial:

Request an Annual Quote

Karius Taps Capstone Health Alliance to Broaden Patient Access to Infectious Disease Testing

NEW YORK – Infectious disease diagnostics firm Karius said Thursday that it has partnered with Capstone Health Alliance, a group purchasing organization, to better streamline patient access to the Karius Test, a blood-based multi-pathogen detection assay. 

Under the agreement, doctors at over 265 Capstone member hospitals across the US will be able to more easily order the test for patients harboring hard-to-diagnose infections. 

Karius said its microbial cell-free metagenomic sequencing technology can rapidly detect more than 1,000 pathogens throughout the body from a single blood sample. According to the company, the assay is particularly valuable for patients at high risk, such as those with compromised immune systems for whom targeted early treatment is especially important. 

"We're excited for the opportunity to get fast, accurate tools into the hands of clinicians to empower earlier diagnosis and treatment of potentially life-threatening infectious diseases," Karius Chief Medical Officer Brad Perkins said in a statement. 

Robin Lincoln, Capstone's chief contracting officer, called the Karius Test a "much-needed addition to a doctor's toolkit against infectious disease." 

Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. 

The Scan

Positive Framing of Genetic Studies Can Spark Mistrust Among Underrepresented Groups

Researchers in Human Genetics and Genomics Advances report that how researchers describe genomic studies may alienate potential participants.

Small Study of Gene Editing to Treat Sickle Cell Disease

In a Novartis-sponsored study in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that a CRISPR-Cas9-based treatment targeting promoters of genes encoding fetal hemoglobin could reduce disease symptoms.

Gut Microbiome Changes Appear in Infants Before They Develop Eczema, Study Finds

Researchers report in mSystems that infants experienced an enrichment in Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and Finegoldia and a depletion of Bacteroides before developing eczema.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment Specificity Enhanced With Stem Cell Editing

A study in Nature suggests epitope editing in donor stem cells prior to bone marrow transplants can stave off toxicity when targeting acute myeloid leukemia with immunotherapy.