PathoQuest, a spinoff of Paris’ Institut Pasteur, has joined forces with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) to establish the company’s proprietary iDTECT Blood test in MSKCC’s microbiology lab. Using next-generation sequencing technology, iDTECT Blood offers a culture-free, agnostic metagenomics approach to pathogen detection. It also features a proprietary sample preparation process that applies to several types of samples, as well as a proprietary pathogen genome sequence database and automated analysis pipeline. The partnership aims to compare iDTECT Blood with standard methods used to identify microorganisms responsible for infections in patients presenting with febrile neutropenia. “This study will add to the clinical evidence we have accumulated to date which demonstrates the improved ability to identify bacteria and viruses from blood samples using next-generation sequencing technology in combination with our proprietary iDTECT Blood sample preparation process and bioinformatics solution,” said Jean-Francois Brepson, PathoQuest’s CEO.