BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical technology company, and Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc. (NASDAQ: AXDX) an innovator of rapid in-vitro diagnostics in microbiology, today announced a worldwide commercial collaboration agreement where BD will offer Accelerate’s rapid testing solution for antibiotic resistance and susceptibility offering results in hours, versus one to two days with some traditional laboratory methods.

Under the agreement, BD will market and sell the Accelerate Pheno® system and Accelerate Arc™ module and associated test kits through its global sales network in territories where products have regulatory approval or registration. These solutions complement BD’s existing Clinical Microbiology portfolio and advance the shared goal of both companies to address the global threat of antimicrobial resistance.

“When a patient is very sick, every minute matters,” said Brooke Story, president of Integrated Diagnostic Solutions for BD. “Rapid testing can quickly determine if an antibiotic should be used for treatment, and if so, which one. Through our collaboration with Accelerate Diagnostics, we can help clinicians more quickly, efficiently and effectively treat patients, which may lead to a reduction in health care costs and help slow the spread of antimicrobial resistance.”

The Accelerate PhenoTest® BC kit is the first test cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that can deliver both rapid identification and phenotypic antibiotic susceptibility results in hours direct from positive blood cultures. Recent external studies indicate this solution offers results one to two days faster than traditional laboratory methods, which can include culturing samples for 18 to 24 hours, and then performing a susceptibility test that can take eight to 24 hours to result. This enables clinicians to optimize antibiotic selection and dosage specific to the individual patient, days earlier. It is well established in peer-reviewed literature that improving time to optimal therapy benefits both patient outcomes and hospital operations.

The Accelerate Arc™ module is a simple load-and-go system that eliminates the requirement of a subculture for MALDI ID as well as the need for lengthy hands-on time by automating the direct MALDI ID workflow. It is currently US, CE-IVDR and UKCA registered for positive blood cultures.

“With BD’s large installed customer base of clinical microbiology systems, this collaboration exponentially increases our global commercial reach and provides numerous ways to increase our market penetration with Pheno and Arc to reach more clinicians and patients,” said Jack Phillips, president and CEO of Accelerate Diagnostics. “Beyond the immediate clinical and commercial benefits, we are excited about the opportunity to collaborate with BD as a long-term leader in clinical microbiology.”