EKF Diagnostics has opened a new Research and Development (R&D) facility at its Cardiff headquarters. The new Special Projects Laboratory will focus on developing new applications for EKF’s many point-of-care and central laboratory medical products to enable the company to enter new market sectors, as well as providing additional diagnostics sales and regulatory support.
In addition to the new UK laboratory, EKF operates two research sites in Germany (Barleben and Leipzig) focusing on developing EKF’s point-of-care analysers, such as the recently launched Lactate Scout 4 handheld lactate meter and haemoglobin analysers. There are also two US-based facilities in Bourne and Elkhart which respectively develop EKF’s central laboratory clinical chemistry applications, as well as custom fermentation / bioprocessing and purification procedures for life science and pharmaceuticals industries.
EKF’s Cardiff-based laboratory complements and supports the company’s other global R&D facilities by focusing on product application development and some aspects of data support. The two new research scientists based there will also investigate how EKF products can bring benefits to new markets beyond healthcare and diagnostics, such as the veterinary, food and brewing industries.
“Our new Cardiff-based laboratory is already assisting our other R&D teams globally, freeing them to dedicate their time to EKF’s new product development and realisation pipeline,” said Dr Gary Dowthwaite (Special Projects Coordinator, EKF Diagnostics). “For example, they are working on a project to obtain data from animal species using our new Lactate Scout 4 analyser. This will enable EKF to enter the veterinary testing market, as raised lactate levels are indicative of an underlying health condition in small animals.”