Biotest Diagnostics Takes the Industry Lead with Tango^®

Highlighting its commitment to providing ongoing product improvements to benefit the blood banking industry, Biotest Diagnostics Corporation (Biotest) – the U.S. subsidiary of German-based Biotest AG, a worldwide supplier of traditional and automated blood bank solutions – announced today that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin marketing its expanded test menu on the TANGO|optimo Automated Blood Bank System.

Lauded for its user-friendly interface and its highly efficient reagent management system, TANGO|optimo is used for blood group serology testing in donor centers and transfusion services. Initially introduced in 2005, the TANGO|optimo now has five additional tests, providing the blood banking industry with even more advantages ranging from further flexibility to lower operating costs. News of the FDA clearance is aptly timed with the American Association of Clinical Chemistry’s (AACC) annual meeting in Washington, D.C., where Biotest is showcasing the TANGO|optimo system (Booth #3011) July 27-31.

“TANGO|optimo has proven its value in the industry for more than three years. Leveraging its current success, Biotest is elevating the system’s capabilities with the expanded test menu to further optimize end users’ experiences,” said Bill Weiss, president, Biotest. “Not only will the additional number of tests provide laboratories with the ability to better serve and care for their patients onsite, but it will also increase their labor and cost savings.”

The TANGO system is already approved for patient and donor ABO/Rh testing, antibody screening using a pooled, two-cell or three-cell screen, and donor ABO and Rh confirmation testing. The expanded TANGO test menu options that recently received FDA clearance include:

Antibody Identification-8 and 11 Cell Panels
Weak D Testing
Rh and Kell Phenotyping
Crossmatch
Direct Antiglobulin Test

It Only Takes One To TANGO

TANGO|optimo Automated Blood Bank System is the next generation model in Biotest’s TANGO product line. With advanced intuitive features, including automated quality control testing, batch validation, on-demand volume verification, automated streamlined maintenance and new reporting capabilities, the TANGOloptimo is the only blood bank analyzer that offers seven-day on-board storage of liquid and microplate reagents. Combining proven Erytype^® S and Solidscreen^® II methodologies with state-of-the-art instrumentation, the TANGO|optimo provides laboratories of varying sizes with outstanding performance, reliability, productivity, flexibility and economical blood group serology testing.

“TANGO|optimo is already an integral solution for Health Network Laboratories. The availability of additional test options will serve to strengthen our continuum of care through further streamlining of the blood type and screening processes,” said Ann Kirsch, blood bank manager, Health Network Laboratories at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, Pa. “Expanding our in-house capabilities, the new menu options will allow us to reduce our dependency on outside reference labs, boosting our productivity and ultimately improving our patient care.”

Easy to use, TANGO|optimo provides the flexibility necessary in a laboratory environment, while also increasing productivity and maximizing cost-efficiency. TANGO|optimo can be used as a batch or random access analyzer, has True STAT and ASAP functions, runs one sample to 144 samples, and enables users to continuously load samples and reagents. Flexibility includes allowing the end-user to choose between a pooled, two or three cell antibody screen. With on-board reagent storage of up to seven days, which TANGO|optimo automatically tracks, blood bank professionals simply load samples, press start on the touch screen monitor and walk away – reducing hands-on time by 86 percent over manual methods.

Stand-Out Service

Biotest’s specially trained blood bank field staff – comprised of medical technologists with donor center and hospital transfusion service experience, and field service engineers with years of diagnostic industry experience – are on call and available to support implementation that is customized to meet the individual facility’s needs, and provide fast and effective on-site troubleshooting. Biotest provides a 24/7 tech support hotline to ensure that its customers receive fast and knowledgeable answers to their questions.

“In this industry, the shortage of laboratory professionals is increasing the dependence on blood bank automation. Where time is a luxury we often don’t have, it is crucial that laboratories have immediate access to answers to ensure the successful operation of the equipment and ultimately the blood bank,” said Candace Williams, vice president of Diagnostics Division, Biotest. “Our team of dedicated support professionals is oncall for our customers, 24/7. We are helping to improve the continuum of patient care.”