Karius is a clinical metagenomics company that applies genomic sequencing and artificial intelligence to infectious disease diagnostics. Founded in 2014 and built on intellectual property from Stanford University, the firm detects microbial cell-free DNA in patient samples to identify pathogens that cause deep-seated and difficult-to-diagnose systemic infections. Its technical work spans plasma metagenomic sequencing, microbial cell-free DNA detection and AI-driven analysis of sequencing data.
The company's principal products are Karius Spectrum, a blood test that detects more than 1,000 fungi, bacteria, DNA viruses and parasites, and Karius Focus BAL, which extends metagenomic testing to lung infections by identifying more than 500 pathogens from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples. Testing is performed in a laboratory that is CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited and ISO 15189-accredited.
Karius reports more than 100,000 patient samples tested and says its platform is used by over 600 hospitals and transplant centres across the United States. The company serves infectious disease diagnostics, healthcare and hospital settings, transplant medicine and biopharma. Its stated aim is to enable rapid clinical treatment decisions and to accelerate therapeutic development for biopharma partners.
