APHP selects Bruker´s Biotyper as exclusive MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry for microbial identification

At the 30^th Reunion Interdisciplinaire de Chimothérapie Anti-Infectieuse (RICAI), Bruker announces that the Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris (APHP) has selected Bruker´s IVD MALDI Biotyper as their exclusive MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry-based microbial identification tool. APHP is the association of all 44 public hospitals in Paris, and is the largest public health network in France. The APHP is providing medical service for the complete metropolitan area of Paris with more than ten million inhabitants.

As an immediate result of this selection, the three Hospitals Bichat, Cochin and Lariboisière have each already ordered an IVD MALDI Biotyper system. Additionally, the Hospitals Necker and Pitié-Salpétrière had previously selected and have already been working with Bruker´s MALDI-TOF mass spectrometers for several years. The APHP hospitals will use the IVD MALDI Biotyper for mass spectrometry-based identification of microorganisms, such as gram-negative bacteria, gram-positive bacteria and yeasts. Due to typically much faster time-to-result (TTR) and lower consumables cost, MALDI Biotyper-based microbial identification is currently more and more replacing classical biochemical identification approaches. In fact, MALDI Biotyper molecular identification is almost as specific as sequence-based 'gold standard' identification, and allows the rapid identification of most bacterial species within minutes.

Dr. Martin Rottman, Associate Professor of Microbiology at University of Versailles and Hospital Raymond Poincaré, Garches pointed out: "We want to use MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry identification in routine clinical microbiology applications to achieve the precision in bacterial identification that could otherwise only be obtained using time-consuming sequence based identification. Indeed the currently available biochemical methods fail to identify many micro-organisms involved in bone and joint infections. The setup of the ISMABIOs regional network for the surveillance and treatment of bone and joint infection, jointly funded by the Region Ile de France through the DIM Malinf program and AP-HP, the hospital of Versailles and the hospital Croix Saint Simon will use MALDI-TOF based bacterial identification to achieve rapid and exact microbial identification in this demanding task. Bruker's MALDI Biotyper was selected as an obvious choice because it is the only platform with CE-IVD marking and the only system currently validated for clinical use in Europe. Moreover, the instrument can be connected to the laboratory information system for defined IVD applications, as well as be used as an open, research oriented, development platform."

Mr. Peio Mogabure, Microbiology Business Development Manager at Bruker Daltonique S.A., added: "Our selection by the APHP hospital association is a major milestone for further establishing the IVD MALDI Biotyper as the standard mass spectrometry tool in routine laboratories for microbial identification in France. During the last two years, we have successfully implemented the technology at several university hospitals. With this selection, our market leading position for MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry based microbial identification is further underpinned."