RECENT NEWS

UK National External Quality Assessment Service (UK NEQAS) is to relocate its Sheffield site to Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park and its state-of-the-art incubation centre, Landing Pad. The move for UK NEQAS will help propel the Park further towards becoming a global centre of excellence for innovation in health, sport and wellbeing.

Roche’s Elecsys pTau217 assay blood test, which is being developed in collaboration with Eli Lilly, has received Breakthrough Device Designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The test aids in identifying amyloid pathology, a key feature of Alzheimer’s disease, and the two firms believe the test could play an important role in improving access to early and accurate Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Randox Laboratories has announced a new partnership with technology firm Bosch, with the goal of making fast and highly precise diagnostics accessible at the point of care. The two companies will invest around €150 million in joint research, development, and sales activities for new tests for the Vivalytic analysis platform provided by Bosch Healthcare.

Bio-Rad Laboratories has announced a collaboration agreement with Oncocyte, a precision diagnostics company, to develop and commercialise transplant monitoring products using Bio-Rad’s Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) instruments and reagents.

North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust has replaced two legacy laboratory information systems with a single instance of Clinisys WinPath. The trust, which serves a catchment of 800,000 patients in North Cambridgeshire and South Lincolnshire, found itself with two LIMS when it was formed out of the merger of Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals and Hinchingbrooke Health Care in 2017.

In a transformative study an international team of researchers, led by the University of Münster and Department of Neurology at the University Hospital of Münster, Germany, in collaboration with the German Competence Network Multiple Sclerosis (KKNMS), has made a significant breakthrough in the understanding and potential treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Researchers at the University of Oxford, the Francis Crick Institute and University College London have been granted £1.7 million of funding from Cancer Research UK and the CRIS Cancer Foundation to develop a lung cancer vaccine.

Quest Diagnostics and whole genome sequencing (WGS) firm Broad Clinical Labs have announced a research collaboration designed to demonstrate the clinical value of WGS as a first-line genetic test for postnatal diagnosis of developmental delay disorders.

Cepheid’s Xpert HIV-1 Qual XC has been awarded World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification. Inclusion on the prequalification list signifies that Xpert HIV-1 Qual XC meets WHO's stringent performance, quality, safety and reliability standards.

Two expert research teams, one from University College London and the other from Dementias Platform UK at the University of Oxford, will conduct UK-wide clinical trials to identify blood tests to boost dementia diagnosis.

Synnovis’ new state-of-the-art hub laboratory in Blackfriars Road, London, is now open for business, with the first samples processed at the beginning of April 2024.The new site is at the heart of a programme to deliver and transform pathology services in south east London.

Bio-Rad Laboratories has announced the launch of its first ultrasensitive multiplexed digital PCR assay, the ddPLEX ESR1 Mutation Detection Kit. The assay expands the company’s Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) offering for the oncology market, where highly sensitive and multiplexed mutation detection assays aid translational research, therapy selection, and disease monitoring.

Researchers have taken a major step towards identifying millions of ‘silent spreaders’ of tuberculosis. A new study led by researchers from the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) has identified a group of biological markers that are found in high levels among infectious patients.

Public satisfaction with the NHS has fallen to the lowest level ever recorded, according to analysis of the latest British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey published recently by The King’s Fund and the Nuffield Trust.

In vitro diagnostics firm bioMérieux has announced that its BIOFIRE SPOTFIRE respiratory/sore throat (R/ST) panel has received both 510(k) clearance from the US FDA and Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) waiver approval.

INTEGRA Biosciences is delighted to announce that Alt Biotech – an innovative French start-up making waves in the cell culture space – has been chosen as a winner of the 'INTEGRA supports start-ups’ competition.

FormaPath has unveiled nToto, a new automated tissue visualisation system (ATVS) developed in collaboration with Mayo Clinic's Advanced Diagnostics Laboratory. The new system was launched in conjunction with a poster presentation at the United States and Canada Association of Pathologists Annual (USCAP) meeting.

Hundreds of laboratory staff in London are being balloted on strike action over a planned restructure by employer Synnovis, which the Unite union claims is unwanted and damaging.

Roche has announced the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the cobas Malaria test for use on the cobas 6800/8800 Systems. This approved test can aid healthcare professionals in reducing potential risks of patient infection from transfused blood products. The cobas Malaria test provides a highly sensitive and specific solution to help ensure that infected blood units are removed from the blood supply.

Laboratory supplier Sarstedt hosted a two-day educational Transport Symposium at its Leicester base during March. An audience of NHS managers and biomedical scientists were present for a variety of presentations as well as a hands-on preview of the Tempus600 transport system.