Beckman Coulter has announced it will introduce new antipsychotic drug tests to laboratories and clinicians to address an unmet clinical need for 69 million people with serious mental conditions worldwide.
In a new agreement with Saladax Biomedical, Beckman Coulter will distribute the tests designed to measure blood levels of antipsychotic drugs prescribed to treat patients with serious mental illness (SMI), such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. These new assays are developed using an innovative nanoparticle technology and empower healthcare professionals with data to monitor psychiatric drugs prescribed in treatment of psychosis, such as Clozapine, Risperidone/Paliperidone, Olanzapine, Quetiapine, Aripiprazole.
The rapid, high-quality assays run on Beckman Coulter’s scalable AU clinical chemistry analysers and shorten turnaround time for patient test results to hours instead of days – leading to greater success managing and monitoring treatments for inpatients and outpatients.
Serious mental illness is a significant public health concern. Worldwide 45 million people are affected by bipolar disorder and 24 million people are living with schizophrenia. Patients with untreated schizophrenia or bipolar may experience increased intensity of symptoms which could be disabling, potentially resulting in additional medical care or could lead to suicide. These new assays assist healthcare professionals to evaluate patient treatment adherence and individual patient drug response.
Assays are being introduced across Europe and the USA, with plans to expand to Beckman Coulter customers globally.
www.beckmancoulter.com/antipsychotic.
