Grifols AlphaID

Grifols has launched the AlphaID, a cheek swab for use by doctors to screen patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a rare, life-threatening genetic condition. Grifols said the swab is completely free, "from ordering to results," and leverages a US Food and Drug Administration-approved genotyping assay to screen for the 14 most prevalently reported genetic mutations associated with the condition, including the S,Z,F, and I alleles, as well as rare and null alleles.