Cardinal Health invests in MRSA testing company

Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) has secured exclusive North American marketing rights for a recently cleared staph-infection blood test from diagnostics company MicroPhage.

In exchange, Dublin, Ohio-based Cardinal has provided MicroPhage with an unspecified amount of operational funding for development and commercialization of new products, according to a statement from MicroPhage.

Reached by phone, MicroPhage officials declined to specify the amount of Cardinal’s investment. “Most of it was an equity investment,” said CEO Don Mooney.

Colorado-based MicroPhage markets the test as the first test for Staphylococcus aureus infections that is able to quickly identify whether the bacteria are methicillin resistant (MRSA) or methicillin susceptible (MSSA). S. aureus is the most common cause of staph infections and can lead to serious conditions like pneumonia and meningitis.

MRSA infections are resistant to antibiotics and often are found in people who have spent time in hospitals or other healthcare settings.

The blood test is capable of delivering results in five-and-a-half hours, compared with current methods that can take up to 72 hours, according to the company.

The test was cleared for marketing by the (pdf) U.S. Food and Drug Administration in May.

The test “not only saves time in diagnosing potentially life-threatening infections but also allows healthcare professionals to optimize treatment and start appropriate contact precautions to prevent the spread of the organism,” said Alberto Gutierrez of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, at the time.

As part of the deal, Cardinal also gets distribution rights to other MicroPhage products in development for testing blood culture specimens for S. aureus, according to the statement.