Fluidigm, OpGen Collaborate

Under the terms of the five-year agreement, the firms will develop tests for the identification, screening, and surveillance of multi-drug resistant pathogens built on Fluidigm's Juno instrument for automating SNP genotyping assays and its Biomark real-time endpoint PCR. The firms will cooperate on quality and regulatory compliance and will have the option to extend the agreement for an additional five years.

"With this expanded relationship, OpGen anticipates developing customized solutions for our CLIA lab customers, strategic partners, and testing laboratories globally," OpGen President Kevin Krenitsky said in a statement, noting that the firm's Acuitas MDRO Gene Test and Resistome Test use Fluidigm's microfluidics.

Steve McPhail, Fluidigm's general manager for production genomics, said, that the partners will seek government funding to develop new products, including molecular information analytics, based on each other's technologies.

Gaithersburg, Maryland-based OpGen offers molecular testing and informatics to help healthcare organizations fight drug-resistant pathogens.