Accelr8 to present new BACcel test study results against hVISA in Europe

Accelr8 Technology Corporation (NYSE Amex: AXK) announced that one of its outside principal investigators received acceptance to present results of a new study in Europe. Researchers from the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine (the Barnes-Jewish Hospital) will present at the 21^st annual ECCMID to be held May 7-10, 2011 in Milan, Italy. ECCMID is the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease, www.eccmid-icc2011.org. It is a major international meeting for professionals in clinical microbiology and Infectious Diseases Medicine.

The study will describe alternative new tests, including Accelr8's BACcel™ rapid diagnostic system, to identify an important new type of antibiotic resistance expressed by "Staph" bacteria. Standard culturing methods are unable to detect this new type of resistance, abbreviated as "hVISA."

Staph often causes simple infections, but also causes life-threatening hospital-acquired infections. "MRSA" is the type of broadly drug resistant, dangerous Staph strain frequently cited in news stories as a "superbug." Physicians most often prescribe vancomycin if they suspect that a MRSA strain causes an infection. Staph variants have now emerged with declining vancomycin susceptibility. hVISA strains appear to be susceptible in standard culturing tests, but careful analysis in specialized research labs reveals important differences that indicate possible resistance. Since vancomycin is the cornerstone drug for suspected MRSA, hVISA may present a serious new threat.

Unlike other methods, the BACcel™ system eliminates the need for prior culturing, thereby reporting results on the same day rather than the 2-3 days required by culturing methods. The new BACcel™ test for hVISA joins tests for other resistance types intended to be performed at the same time on the same patient specimen.

According to David Howson, Accelr8's president, "The new presentation gives the large international community a close look at the BACcel™ system concept and its performance. The new test may help investigators perform more definitive clinical studies to assess the spread of this emerging new threat," Howson concluded.

Source: Accelr8 Technology Corporation