UNION CITY, Calif., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Abaxis, Inc. , a medical products company manufacturing point-of-care blood chemistry analysis systems, announced today the launch of the Kidney Check Panel to be used in conjunction with the Piccolo xpress(TM) point of care analyzer.
The new Kidney Check Panel was designed specifically for imaging and radiology centers in the United States to determine the level of renal insufficiency prior to the injection of contrast agents for MRI procedures. This panel contains Creatinine (CRE) and Urea Nitrogen (BUN). As a result of prior FDA clearance on these two analytes, the Kidney Check Panel is released as a CLIA-waived panel.
“Many contrast mediums currently used during an MRI procedure in the outpatient setting can have an adverse effect on the kidneys. The ability to check kidney function prior to and in some cases post MRI, enables the radiologist to rapidly assess the risk level of each patient. In recent months, the FDA has released black box warnings on some of these gadolinium-based contrast agents,” stated Dr. Dennis Bleile, Director of Assay Performance and Compliance for Abaxis, Inc.
“The Kidney Check Panel provides a critical solution for the rapid, on-site classification and triaging of MRI patients,” commented Rick Betts, Abaxis’ Director of Marketing. “We believe this latest CLIA-waived offering answers a significant need for the imaging and radiology market by providing a simple, fast and accurate chemistry solution for on-site kidney function analysis. We also believe the Kidney Check Panel will help increase the efficiency and reduce the risks for our imaging and radiology center customers.”
About Abaxis, Inc.
Abaxis develops, manufactures and markets portable blood analysis systems for use in any veterinary or human patient-care setting to provide clinicians with rapid blood constituent measurements. The system consists of a compact, 5.1 kilogram (11.2 pounds), portable analyzer and a series of single-use plastic discs, called reagent discs that contain all the chemicals required to perform a panel of up to 13 tests on veterinary patients and 14 tests on human patients. The system can be operated with minimal training and performs multiple routine tests on whole blood, serum or plasma samples. The system provides test results in less than 12 minutes with the precision and accuracy equivalent to a clinical laboratory analyzer. The veterinary business also provides to the veterinarian and research market a line of hematology instruments for point of care complete blood counts (CBC).
This press release includes statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Abaxis claims the protection of the safe-harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Reform Act. Specific forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to the market acceptance of the Company’s products and the continuing development of its products, risks associated with manufacturing and distributing its products on a commercial scale, risks associated with entering the human diagnostic market on a larger scale, risks involved in carrying of inventory, risks from unexpected problems or delays in the Company’s manufacturing facility, risks associated with the ability to attract and retain competent sales personnel, general market conditions, competition, risks and uncertainties related to its ability to raise capital in order to fund its operations and other risks detailed from time to time in Abaxis’ periodic reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statement was made. Abaxis does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
CONTACT: Clint Severson, Chief Executive Officer of Abaxis, Inc.,
+1-510-675-6500; or Joe Dorame, Joe Diaz or Robert Blum, +1-602-889-9700,
all of Lytham Partners, LLC, for Abaxis, Inc.
