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CHELMSFORD, Mass., Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- First Light Diagnostics, a developer of breakthrough automated diagnostic products for rapid, sensitive and cost-effective diagnostic tests for life-threatening infections, today announced their recent participation at the 6^th Annual Meeting of the Boston Area Antibiotic Resistance Network.

Don Straus, chief science officer and founder of First Light Diagnostics, was invited to speak during the session "Advances in Diagnostics." His presentation, "A New Method for Rapid Phenotypic Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (AST) Directly from Patient Samples," discussed the results of First Light's studies demonstrating their novel technology for rapid detection of infections, identification of pathogens and determination of the effective targeted antimicrobial therapy in about four hours. The AST methods that are used today, in contrast, require two to four days to determine the appropriate antibiotic therapy. Products based on the new technology, enabling the implementation of targeted narrow-spectrum antibiotics at the outset of symptoms, offer the potential to significantly improve patient outcomes and attenuate the spread of antibiotic resistance.

"I was honored to be invited to speak at this year's BAARN event," said Don Straus. "The opportunity to share the results of our work with the Antibiotic Resistance Network community always leads to insightful conversations and exchanges of ideas."

The presentation highlighted the MultiPath™ technology's potential in several key areas including the following:

• Detection of infections and identification of pathogens in 30 minutes.
• Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) results in four hours. 
• Robustness to sample matrix.
• Ability to be robust to sample matrix effects and variable inoculum levels.
• Delivery of high analytical sensitivity, analytical specificity and AST accuracy.
• Providing AST results for non-sterile samples and polymicrobial infections.
• Ability to deliver accurate results on a fully automated, random-access, continuous processing platform.

The 6^th Annual Meeting of the Boston Area Antibiotic Resistance Network was held on Dec. 7 at the Starr Center in Boston.

About First Light Diagnostics

First Light Diagnostics is developing and preparing to commercialize innovative diagnostic products for rapid, sensitive and cost-saving detection of life-threatening infections and for combating the spread of antibiotic resistance. Don Straus is the company's founder and primary inventor of the company's core scientific technology. Based on its proprietary MultiPath™ detection technology, First Light's products combine the clinical performance of the most advanced commercial laboratory tests with speed, cost-effectiveness and ease of use. The tests rapidly detect infections, identify infectious agents and determine effective targeted antibiotic therapy. This will improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs and prevent inappropriate use of powerful antibiotics. To learn more, please visit www.firstlightdx.com.

David Macdonald
President and CEO
First Light Diagnostics
dmacdonald@firstlightdx.com,
Mobile: (858) 997-9641

SOURCE First Light Diagnostics