Biopharma Applications

Partner with Karius to discover new biomarkers by leveraging our liquid biopsy for infectious disease, with the ability to detect over 1000 pathogens from a single blood draw.

Unlock the power of microbial cell-free DNA

Infection remains a stumbling block in therapeutic development in many disease areas, especially regimens including highly immunosuppressive treatments. Many patients must pause or discontinue treatment due to infection leading to suboptimal clinical results. The Karius diagnostics platform is uniquely suited to help researchers optimize clinical trials through patient identification, patient stratification, and rapid identification of potential infection-related side effects. Our goal is for Karius’ technology to play a key role in helping providers identify the right treatment for patients, helping patients stay on therapy, and enhancing clinical outcomes both in clinical trials and in the real-world setting. Partner with Karius and leverage our liquid biopsy for infectious disease, with the ability to detect over 1000 pathogens from a single blood draw.

Why partner with Karius?

Thousands of microbes are known to cause human disease, and differential diagnosis of infectious disease is a complex and challenging task in the clinic. Microbiological culture-based methods (e.g. microscopy, special staining, serology, etc.) are the preferred conventional tests used for the identification of common pathogens, but the turnaround time-to-results period can take days to weeks in certain cases, and many pathogens are difficult to culture. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are rapid but typically target a small number of etiological agents and need a presumptive diagnosis before a test is chosen.

Clinical metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) of microbial cell-free DNA (mcfDNA) has emerged as an attractive diagnostic modality for infectious diseases, especially in immunocompromised patients. Liquid biopsy for infectious disease, based on mcfDNA testing, provides a new frontier for the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. Microbial cell-free DNA molecules in circulation originate from colonizing or invasive microbes that release their nucleic acids into the blood as they break down. Using novel chemistries and analytics, in combination with next-generation sequencing to measure mcfDNA, the Karius technology generates quantitative microbial signals across a wide range of bacteria, fungi, DNA viruses, and parasites starting from a plasma sample. 

Interested in going beyond infectious disease? The microbiome plays an integral role in training and development of the immune system and is often dysregulated with disease state changes. Tap into our biomarker discovery platform to develop novel signatures for the detection of early disease onset, monitoring disease progression and remission, as well as prediction of drug response. Near-term areas of interest include oncology, autoimmune, and gastrointestinal diseases.

The Karius biomarker discovery team works with partners to identify signatures associated with health and disease, disease progress, and response to therapies, offering new paths to novel therapeutic solutions.

Applications of mcfDNA Biomarkers:

• Potential selection of eligible subjects
• Rapid detection and monitoring of microbial load
• Monitoring drug efficacy
• Assisting with determination of dosing and duration of treatment
• Identification of co-infections that could impact therapeutic efficacy, safety, and adverse events

For publications visit www.kariusdx.com/clinical-evidence/clinical-data.