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.