RECENT NEWS

Avacta, a life sciences company developing targeted oncology drugs and diagnostics, has acquired Belgian firm Coris Bioconcept which develops, manufactures and markets rapid diagnostic test kits.

New research has revealed further details of how Alzheimer’s disease is caused, and a blood test could predict who will go on to develop the condition. A new paper published in Nature Medicine by staff at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that the build-up of amyloid protein in the brain, long associated with the disease, may in itself not be enough to cause symptoms.

New regulatory recognition routes for medicines will be established using approvals from Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, Switzerland, Singapore and the United States, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has announced.

PathPresenter, the global image sharing platform for pathology, has announced that its free public platform now has more than 50,000 registered users in 172 countries. Nearly 7,000 users have joined the pathology image sharing community in the past 12 months.

The Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) has published its 2022 Annual Report, reflecting on the support it is providing its members and how it is using its channels to raise awareness of biomedical science.

Validair Monitoring Solutions has chosen to rebrand its business and has changed its name to FMS. The move comes as the company expands into new sectors with facility-wide and cleanroom airborne particle monitoring increasingly relevant in markets beyond the pharmaceutical industry.

1. Menarini Diagnostics has launched its new PRIME MDx platform: a sample-to-result, all-in-one, fully-automated molecular diagnostics platform for the processing of various testing portfolios through real-time PCR.

A brand-new genetic research resource, known as a ‘biobank’, will be piloted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in a joint venture with Genomics England to better understand how a patient’s genetic makeup can impact the safety of their medicines.

The Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) has collaborated with The Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) and The Association for Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (ACB) to produce a strategy document aimed at those responsible for planning and commissioning novel patient services outside of traditional care settings.

Dr Bernie Croal has been elected by the College membership as President Elect of The Royal College of Pathologists.

At EuroMedLab 2023 in Rome, Roche has introduced the next generation of its serum work area, several molecular systems and the cobas connection module. Also on show is the new navify digital solution to help laboratories address their needs for digital infrastructure, operational excellence and medical insights.

The National Genomics Education programme is running a free two-week online course which offers a practical guide to the genomic testing process for rare disease.

As part of its commitment to public health, bioMérieux has announced two upcoming events focused on sepsis and the blood culture pathway. The Irish Sepsis Summit takes place 21 June in Athlone, with the UK Sepsis Summit following on 5-6 September, at the University of Nottingham.

The NHS is set to introduce a new genetic blood-matching test for thousands living with sickle cell disease or thalassaemia that could reduce some of the side effects of transfusion treatments.

UK company X-Lab has launched a successful pilot of its Labgnostic software between TriCore and Arkana Labs to enable interoperability between diagnostic laboratories. X-Lab which owns and operates a systems-agnostic laboratory exchange hub, called Labgnostic, has recently gone 'live' in connecting the first two US laboratories to the network.

Sphere Fluidics, a company developing single-cell analysis systems underpinned by its patented picodroplet technology, has recently revealed its new branding to align with its ambitious global commercial growth strategy.

Digital pathology solutions and clinical AI firm Paige has introduced new advanced integration capabilities to the Paige Platform, a holistic web-based solution that enables complete digital pathology workflows and supports the evolving needs of today’s modern laboratory.

Revvity has announced a new licence agreement with AstraZeneca for the technology underlying its Pin-point base editing system, a next-generation modular gene editing platform with a strong safety profile.

Lonza has launched the new TheraPEAK T-VIVO cell culture medium, a novel chemically defined medium developed to optimise CAR T-cell manufacture.

The British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA) has today launched a new independent white paper, ‘Leveraging advanced diagnostics to realise the UK's potential in genomics’ which examines the UK genomics landscape, with a focus on patient access to genomic testing.