NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Abacus Diagnostica has received CE marking on a molecular assay for norovirus, and has signed a new distribution agreement with UK-based Launch Diagnostics to improve the availability of its GenomEra product line, including its automated GenomEra CDX platform.
The in vitro diagnostic norovirus test runs on the GenomEra CDX platform and is “the world’s fastest molecular test for the detection and differentiation of norovirus genogroups I and II,” the firm said in a statement. It uses Abacus’ proprietary chemistry for the detection of RNA viruses to test for norovirus directly from stool without the need for RNA extraction.
“Molecular tests are the only in vitro diagnostic tests which can detect virtually all norovirus variants and are sensitive enough to detect all infections despite the severity,” Abacus CEO Erno Sundberg said in a statement. “GenomEra enables adaptation of quick and reliable norovirus diagnostics also in places with limited resources, and is so easy that it can be used without any experience of molecular methods.”
Launch Diagnostics will supply the instrument and norovirus kits in the UK, Ireland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The firms noted there had been 215 norovirus outbreaks documented by Public Health England by early September 2017. “Such outbreaks can be crippling to hospitals, so rapid, reliable diagnosis with a test like the GenomEra Norovirus kit can dramatically improve patient care and save hospitals money,” added Veronique Petit, Launch Diagnostics marketing director for France and the Benelux region.
Abacus previously developed a test to detect Clostridium difficile directly from stool samples and an assay to detect Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus in blood culture, both of which run on the GenomEra CDX platform.