Infants and people living in remote areas to benefit from new sample types compatible with Roche's HIV test on cobas 4800 System
Infants and people living in remote areas to benefit from new sample types compatible with Roche's HIV test on cobas 4800 System |
[22-January-2019] |
- Increases access to early infant HIV testing and monitoring of HIV patients living in remote settings - Improved accessibility means patient plasma samples no longer need refrigeration during transport to the lab - Only such card that meets the World Health Organization sensitivity requirement for determining HIV treatment PLEASANTON, California, Jan. 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced today the addition of two new sample types for utilization on the cobas® 4800 System: Dried Blood Spot (DBS) for qualitative early infant diagnosis (EID) and the cobas® Plasma Separation Card for quantitative viral load testing. These solutions further improve access to HIV diagnostic tests. "The inclusion of these additional sample types across all of our molecular diagnostic platforms will expand access to testing in the countries hardest hit by HIV," said Uwe Oberlaender, CEO Roche Molecular Diagnostics. "This is another example of our ongoing commitment to providing life-saving diagnostics in the fight against HIV and AIDS." Children born with HIV are particularly vulnerable. Without reliable early infant diagnosis and treatment, 50% of them will die before their second birthday.1 The use of dried blood spots (DBS) can facilitate PCR testing, and more importantly make sample collection easy, even from the smallest infant. A quick heel prick is all that's required to produce an adequate sample. The cobas Plasma Separation Card is a stable and easy-to-use sample collection device for HIV plasma viral load testing. By providing a small amount of a patient's blood from a fingertip, this specially designed card simplifies blood collection and sample transportation - even in areas of extreme heat and humidity - while meeting WHO requirements for determining HIV treatment failure. The cobas Plasma Separation Card is now available in countries accepting CE-Mark certification, for use with the COBAS® AmpliPrep/COBAS® TaqMan® HIV-1 and cobas 4800/6800/8800 HIV-1 Tests. About the cobas Plasma Separation Card The cobas Plasma Separation Card can now be used with the cobas 4800/6800/8800 and the COBAS® AmpliPrep/COBAS® TaqMan® System. It is also included in the Roche Global Access Program as a solution to help expand access to diagnostics in countries hardest hit by HIV. About Roche's Tradition of Commitment to HIV Care In partnership with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), Unitaid, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, Roche has been working to increase access to HIV diagnostic solutions to achieve the UNAIDS 90-90-90 goal to improve people knowing their status, getting on HIV therapy, and suppressing the virus from replicating. About HIV-1 The combination of diagnosis, highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) and viral load tests which determine the amount of circulating HIV, have all steadily increased life expectancy for people infected with HIV. About Roche Roche is the world's largest biotech company, with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and diseases of the central nervous system. Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner in diabetes management. The Roche Group, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is active in over 100 countries and in 2017 employed about 94,000 people worldwide. In 2017, Roche invested CHF 10.4 billion in R&D and posted sales of CHF 53.3 billion. Genentech, in the United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche is the majority shareholder in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information, please visit www.roche.com. All trademarks used or mentioned in this release are protected by law. *Not all products and uses are available in all countries. Please refer to the package insert for applicable intended uses for each individual product. References For media inquiries please contact: Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/810141/Baby_20Heel_DBS_ID_def2ad56e370.jpg | ||
Company Codes: Swiss:ROG, OTC-PINK:RHHBY, Swiss:RO, OTC-QX:RHHBY |
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