RECENT NEWS

Women are being urged to accept NHS cervical screening invites after new figures show three in ten of those eligible for screening do not take up the potentially life-saving offer. The NHS invites women for screening every three to five years depending on their age, or more frequently if the high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) is detected, with the programme saving thousands of lives annually.

The new Dorset Pathology Hub opened its doors for the first time this month, following many years of planning. The University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust’s molecular pathology team were the first to move into the new building and is already reporting patient results.

Cardiff-based Verici Dx, a developer of advanced clinical diagnostics for organ transplant, has signed an exclusive global licensing agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific to develop an assay for pre-transplant prognostic testing for risk of early kidney rejection.

Serious Hazards of Transfusion (SHOT) and Joint United Kingdom (UK) Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services Professional Advisory Committee (JPAC) have joined forces to present a collaborative webinar that will provide an overview of JPAC with a focus on safe donor selection to ensure safe transfusions.

The UK’s largest trade show for the entire laboratory industry, Lab Innovations, returned to the NEC, Birmingham, earlier this month to champion sustainability and innovation in the laboratory industry. This year’s show saw record-breaking numbers across the board, with more exhibitors, speakers and visitors than ever at Lab Innovations 2023.

Laboratory interoperability provider X-Lab has launched LabReach – a web-based, order communications portal for remote requesters. Clinics and services, with no previous access to digital test ordering, can now electronically request tests from the laboratories of their choice.

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) has been granted full planning permission for its new state-of-the-art pathology building, set to be a key part of the longer-term reconfiguration of the Royal Cornwall Hospital site in Truro.

Roche has launched the new Elecsys Anti-HEV IgM and Elecsys Anti-HEV IgG immunoassays for the detection of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections in countries accepting the CE mark.

Molecular diagnostics group Yourgene Health (part of the Novacyt group of companies) and PacBio, a developer of high-quality, highly accurate sequencing solutions, have announced a collaboration to optimise size selection for long-read sequencing workflows. PacBio has qualified Yourgene’s LightBench instrument for size selection of long DNA fragments, enabling high yields for HiFi sequencing data.

The British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA) has appointed Angela Douglas MBE as President of the Association. She will take up the office on 1 December 2023.

Roche has announced that its Elecsys Neurofilament Light Chain (NfL) test for multiple sclerosis (MS) received Breakthrough Device designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Elecsys NfL test is intended to be used as an aid in detection of disease activity in with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) or secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), providing critical insights for disease management.

The NHS has met the government’s target for 90% of trusts adopting electronic patient records in hospitals ahead of schedule.

Menarini Diagnostics has launched MileWATCH, a unique tracking tool that provides traceability from the operating theatre and throughout the laboratory, establishing a unique chain of custody for each specimen.

A new report published by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the University of Bristol has found that the NHS England (NHSE) emergency department opt-out testing programme for bloodborne viruses has helped to diagnose thousands of people with serious infections.

Germany-based diagnostic company BIOTYPE has launched a major upgrade of its MODAPLEX platform. The benchtop diagnostic platform for the fully integrated analysis of molecular biomarker signatures allows laboratories in research and clinical settings to perform highly specialised molecular analyses quickly and easily in an automated manner.

Glox Therapeutics, a company pioneering the development of precision antibiotic therapies based on naturally occurring bacteriocins, has raised £4.3 million in seed funding to develop effective targeted therapeutics against antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria.

The King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC), in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has successfully administered an advanced gene therapy for eight patients suffering from the genetic bleeding disorder haemophilia.

Oxford Nanopore sequencing technology will be used in a pioneering new collaboration with Genomics England, to sequence as many as 7,500 samples from participants of the landmark 100,000 Genomes Project with a range of genetic or suspected genetic disorders.

Finnish company Medix Biochemica, which supplies raw materials to the in vitro diagnostics industry has acquired the US-based ViroStat, a global leader in infectious disease antibodies and antigens. The acquisition significantly expands Medix Biochemica’s portfolio of IVD raw materials, brings complementary scientific capabilities and further strengthens its local presence in the USA.

INTEGRA Biosciences is pleased to announce the release of a new eBook providing a complete guide to pipetting.