bioMérieux Unveils an Extended Menu for the VIDAS^® Platform at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry’s 2008 Annual Meeting

bioMérieux, a world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics, will present an extended line of assays for the VIDAS^® platform at the 2008 American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Annual Meeting July 27-31 in Washington, D.C. The assays being presented for the VIDAS® immunoassay system for automated pathogen detection include:

• VIDAS^® C. difficile Toxin A&B (CDA+B), which offers rapid detection of the C. difficile bacterium, the most common cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea in hospitals.
• VIDAS^® B•R•A•H•M•S PCT^®, an innovative Procalcitonin assay that aids in the risk assessment for progression to severe sepsis and septic shock.
• VIDAS^® Troponin I Ultra for diagnosis of Myocardial Infarctions.
• VIDAS^® NT-proBNP to aid the diagnosis of suspected congestive heart failure.
• VIDAS^® D-Dimer Exclusion™ for diagnosis of Pulmonary Embolism (PE) or Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) in the emergency department.
• VIDAS^® CK-MB to aid in the diagnosis of Acute Myocardial Infarctions.

bioMérieux will also showcase three new microbiology laboratory automation platforms at AACC. Previously launched at ASM 2008, the following new instruments are designed to complement bioMérieux’s complete range of automated solutions, including the BacT/ALERT^® for blood culture, VITEK^® 2 for identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing and DiversiLab™ for microbial straintyping:
• PREVI™ Isola, a pre-poured media streaker designed to automate routine agar plate processing.
• PREVI™ Color Gram, bringing automation to a new lab procedure with its unique staining technology.
• Sysmex^® UF-1000i, a urinary screening tool that allows laboratory technicians to accurately detect and enumerate bacteria and particles present in urine specimens.

“bioMérieux continues to provide comprehensive clinical tests to meet healthcare demands,” said Herb Steward, executive vice president, bioMérieux, Inc. “In addition to being committed to delivering full microbiology lab automation, we strive to innovate new ways to improve the value our platforms deliver for the healthcare dollar.”

During the AACC meeting, bioMérieux will also co-sponsor a symposium: “Clarifying the Role of NT-proBNP by Consensus.” The forum will address three components of a recent consensus statement published in the February 2008 American Journal of Cardiology, including the importance and interpretation of intermediate NT-proBNP concentrations and the differential diagnosis of evaluated NT-proBNP levels.