NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Sekisui Diagnostics and Mesa Biotech announced today a distribution deal for the Mesa Biotech point-of-care molecular system for flu A/B.
Mesa's POC flu test runs on a handheld molecular diagnostic device, consisting of a small controller dock and sample-to-answer testing cassettes. Clinicians wash patient nasal swabs in a buffer, add an aliquot to the cassette, place it in the dock, close the lid, and let the dock run the test. The cassette contains reagents for lysis, transcription of influenza virus RNA to DNA, and amplification.
Under the agreement, Sekisui will exclusively distribute Mesa's system in the US and Canada, pending clearance from regulators in both countries. Further details of the deal were not disclosed.
The system “offers the potential to strengthen our flu portfolio in the mid-to-long term by offering physicians the simplicity, convenience, and procedural familiarity of traditional POC rapid immunoassays, while providing the superior sensitivity, specificity, and information content of laboratory-based PCR testing," Sekisui Diagnostics President and COO Robert Schruender said in a statement.