INDIANAPOLIS, June 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Elmwood Park, NJ-based Bio-Reference Laboratories will service approximately 3 million patients this fiscal year. And now, the Bio-Reference Labs will be the first in the region to have a fully automated molecular diagnostics test system for HIV-1 ribonucleic acid (RNA) for viral load monitoring -- the Roche Diagnostics COBAS(R) AmpliPrep / COBAS AMPLICOR HIV-1 MONITOR test, version 1.5.
This blood test uses Roche's polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology, a patented, Nobel Prize winning technology that allows minute amounts of genetic material to be amplified into billions of copies, or detectable levels, in only a few hours. The system measures the amount of HIV-1 RNA within a patient's blood sample.
Disease progression to Acute Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has been correlated with high viral load, or high numbers of virus particles.(1) Viral load monitoring is important for patients with HIV because it is an essential component of current treatment algorithms.
"Roche Diagnostics is committed to providing our laboratory customers with new technology to help them better serve physicians and patients," said Susan Zienowicz, Vice President, Molecular Diagnostics, Roche Diagnostics. "We are focused on creating tests that can further optimize diagnosis and enhance patient care."
"Bringing this new automated technology into our lab achieves several of our goals. It optimizes diagnosis and patient care, providing physicians with more information than ever before to help treat their patients," said Warren Erdmann, Vice President and General Manager, Bio-Reference Laboratories. "It also brings our lab professionals a new level of enhanced operational efficiencies, saving time and resources. We strive to bring the newest innovations into our lab in order to offer our community excellent service and support."
Bio-Reference Labs is the largest independent regional clinical laboratory in the Northeast, and has a full molecular diagnostics testing menu including viral load, genotyping, and other highly complex testing using real-time PCR techniques. Molecular testing is more sensitive and more specific than traditional culture-based methods.
About Roche and Roche Diagnostics
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world's leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As a supplier of innovative products and services for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people's health and quality of life. Roche is a world leader in diagnostics, the leading supplier of medicines for cancer and transplantation and a market leader in virology. In 2005 sales by the Pharmaceuticals Division totaled 27.3 billion Swiss francs, and the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 8.2 billion Swiss francs. Roche employs roughly 70,000 people in 150 countries and has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai. Roche's Diagnostics Division offers a uniquely broad product portfolio and supplies a wide array of innovative testing products and services to researchers, physicians, patients, hospitals, and laboratories world-wide.
Roche Diagnostics' North American headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Ind. (http://www.roche-diagnostics.us ). For further information, please visit our Web sites http://www.roche.us and http://www.roche-diagnostics.com .
(1) O'Brien, W.a., Hartigan, P.M., Martin, D. et al. 1996. Changes in plasma HIV-1 RNA and CD4 lymphocyte counts and the risk of progression to AIDS. New England Journal of Medicine 334:426-431
COBAS, AMPLIPREP, and AMPLICOR HIV-1 MONITOR are trademarks of Roche. For further information please contact: Lori LeRoy Roche Diagnostics 317-521-7159 lori.leroy@roche.com
Roche DiagnosticsCONTACT: Lori LeRoy of Roche Diagnostics, +1-317-521-7159,lori.leroy@roche.com
