The prize was awarded for Ares Genetics’ ARESupa – Universal Pathogenome Assay, a diagnostic tool for personalized antibiotic resistance diagnostics combining next-generation sequencing with artificial intelligence (AI).
 
Information on the antibiotic susceptibility of pathogens is of utmost importance for clinical practice, epidemiology and public health purposes as well as for the development of pharmaceutical products in the infectious disease sector. ARESupa accurately predicts antibiotic susceptibility via AI-powered interpretation of high-throughput DNA sequencing data of pathogens.
 
The MERCUR Innovation Prize is awarded every year by the Vienna Economic Chamber to highlight and support the innovation potential of Vienna’s enterprises. The prize awards product or process innovations characterized by high practical utility as well as economic impact in four categories, namely Creativity and Media/Consulting, Life Sciences, Green Economy, and ICT/Technology.
 
Ares Genetics’ R&D programs for the development of ARESupa are co-funded by non-dilutive public grants provided by the Vienna Business Agency, the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), and other institutions with a total co-funded volume of up to more than EUR 3 million.
 
“The entire Ares Genetics team is extremely proud to be awarded this prestigious prize for its contribution to the fight against spreading antibiotic resistance, one of the most challenging threats to modern healthcare globally,” commented Dr. Andreas Posch, Managing Director and CEO of Ares Genetics. ”We would not have been able to pursue our innovative approach to infectious disease diagnostics so successfully without the help of our many supporters at the Vienna Economic Chamber, the Vienna Business Agency, the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, Life Science Austria, and the Vienna Biocenter, just to name a few. Thank you all!”