Tag: Dr. Oliver Schacht

Company News: Curetis Strengthens Executive Team; Appoints Dr. Achim Plum as Chief Commercial Officer

– Former Siemens Healthcare manager adds broad expertise in molecular diagnostics, sales, marketing, and business development

Curetis AG, a developer of next-level molecular diagnostic solutions, today announced Dr. Achim Plum has been appointed to the newly-created role of Chief Commercial Officer. Dr. Plum joins Curetis from a senior management position at Siemens, where he focused on the assessment and development of novel approaches to the in vitro diagnostic (IVD) market. He will oversee all commercial activities, including international sales, business development, marketing and medical affairs.

Dr. Plum will focus on the continued expansion of Curetis’ commercial organization and infrastructure with the goal of achieving aggressive revenue growth targets in Europe, Asia and the rest of the world. He will also establish a U.S.-based commercial team to support the launch of the Unyvero Solution following FDA approval.

Prior to his position at Siemens, Dr. Plum spent eight years in various commercial roles at Epigenomics, a publicly-traded molecular diagnostics company, most recently as Senior Vice President Business and Strategy. At Epigenomics, he built sales and marketing teams and distribution networks in Europe and the U.S., negotiated strategic commercial agreements with leading diagnostics industry players and led the public company’s corporate communications and compliance functions. He brings significant capital markets experience through his involvement in multiple financing transactions with U.S. and international investors.

Company News: Curetis Joins European Prosthetic Joint Infection Cohort Study (EPJIC)

–      Unyvero i60 ITI cartridges to be run on 500 prospectively collected patient samples from multi-center study across Europe

–      All Unyvero testing to be conducted in central reference lab under the auspices of the PRO-IMPLANT Foundation and Prof. Andrej Trampuz

Curetis AG, a developer of next-level molecular diagnostic solutions, today announced it has joined the European Prosthetic Joint Infection Cohort Study (EPJIC). EPJIC is an initiative of the PRO-IMPLANT Foundation to improve the management of Prosthetic Joint Infection (PJI) and to develop consensus guidelines across Europe. PJI is one of the leading causes of joint implant failure. Treatment often requires multiple surgical interventions and prolonged antibiotic therapy and is associated with a failure rate of 10 to 20 percent.

The investigator-initiated study has started in September 2014 and will enroll up to 5,000 PJI patients from up to 100 study centers across Europe. As part of the study, 500 patient samples will be measured by the Unyvero i60 ITI multiplex PCR cartridge system to identify pathogens involved in prosthetic joint infection, a key indication area of the Unyvero i60 ITI cartridge. The data will help build the body of evidence especially in PJI diagnosis using sonication fluid samples. As already demonstrated in the CE performance evaluation study of the i60 cartridge, the Unyvero system is able to detect pathogens frequently missed by microbiology culture. Also, Unyvero i60 results are available within about 5 hours compared to classical microbiological culture methods that can take up to 14 days with PJI samples.

The study’s Unyvero arm is expected to be completed by the end of 2015, with initial data anticipated in the first half of 2015. Data will be published at major conferences and in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

The Unyvero i60 cartridge, which is jointly marketed by Curetis and Heraeus Medical GmbH, covers a broad range of infections common after abdominal as well as bone and joint surgery, trauma (e.g. burns) or skin and soft tissue infections, including diabetic foot disease. Its multiplex panel covers a total of 114 targets – 91 pathogens (gram-negative & gram-positive bacteria and fungi) and 23 resistance markers – relevant for eight clinical indications.

In combination with the unique Unyvero L4 Lysator, it can process biofilm samples, an important prerequisite for the fast and reliable diagnosis of implant infections (catheters, joints etc.).