Solu Launches the Fastest Accessible Online Tool for Analyzing and Preventing Candida Auris Outbreaks with Genomes

HELSINKI, February 28th, 2024 – Solu, a Finnish health technology company helping hospitals and public health organizations prevent infections with genomics, introduces the fastest accessible online tool in the market for analyzing and preventing Candida auris outbreaks with genomics. Solu’s Candida.app tool enables quick and easy genomic characterization of Candida auris, improving the classification and management of new outbreaks, and helping epidemiologists prevent further outbreaks.

Candida auris is a multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen posing a serious public health threat due to its fast spread, high transmissibility, and high mortality rate of up to 60%. Global health organizations, including the CDC and the World Health Organization, have labeled it a growing concern. It particularly threatens hospitalized individuals, older adults, and those with weakened immune systems (1).

Solu is the pioneer in applying genome sequencing for the analysis and management of hospital-acquired infections. Solu’s platform simplifies the sequencing and analysis process, offering a fast, user-friendly tool for epidemiologists. To help epidemiologists better manage Candida auris outbreaks, Solu now expands its offering and introduces the first online tool in the market for analyzing Candida genomes. The free web app enables fast and easy genomic characterization of the genomes, making it easier to understand, detect, and prevent the spread of Candida auris outbreaks.

“Genomics has been a great help in categorizing and tracking recent Candida auris outbreaks, as with any emerging pathogen. We are thrilled to launch a pioneering tool for the genomic epidemiology of Candida auris to help hospitals and health organizations tackle this significant thread more efficiently,” says Sam Sihvonen, co-founder and CEO of Solu.

The use of genome sequencing in identifying and tracking Candida auris outbreaks is widely recognized, with the CDC establishing its own Candida auris surveillance program (2). However, genomic characterization of Candida auris remains challenging, particularly for non-bioinformaticians. Current methods require bioinformatics knowledge, computing resources, and result interpretation, and they don't always contain all known resistance mutations.

The resistance analysis provided by Candida.app is based on AFRBase, the largest antifungal resistance database. The tool is the first to make this database accessible in a user-friendly format. Candida.app accepts genomes, either as contigs or scaffolds, and performs basic quality standardization and error correction. Users can easily upload a genome file to the tool and receive immediate results without the need for any configurations. Solu’s Candida.app is intended for research use only. For usage in a hospital’s infection prevention setting, Solu also provides a rapid sequencing service, delivering results in three to five days.

"Our Candida.app is a streamlined, effective tool for utilizing genomic sequencing to manage these outbreaks. This quick and simple method of monitoring Candida auris at the genome level has enormous potential to enable better research and efficient prevention in the future. At Solu, we are determined to pioneer in this space and will continue to develop more tools and technologies for better epidemic prevention."

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(1) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10532978/#B16-jof-09-00913

(2) https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/candida-auris/tracking-c-auris.html

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