Nanogen announced today that it is developing new analyte specific reagents (ASRs) for clinical reference laboratories to develop and validate a single test to detect six of the most common respiratory viruses.
Instead of testing for multiple viruses using individual tests, clinical laboratories could utilize Nanogen's gene-based respiratory viral ASRs to develop their own test for influenza A, influenza B, human parainfluenza 1, human parainfluenza 2, human parainfluenza 3 and respiratory syncytial virus A/B in a single panel. The ASRs also provide laboratories with the capability to develop a test that can detect dual infections, which previously required additional time and tests. The NanoChip(R) respiratory viral ASRs will be available to high complexity CLIA-certified clinical reference laboratories in the U.S. in 2005. The ASRs incorporate multiplexing technology developed by Prodesse, Inc.
During a presentation at the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) annual meeting, Nanogen highlighted the potential use of respiratory virus ASRs on the recently introduced NanoChip(R) 400. The reagents and instrument can provide clinical laboratories with an advanced microarray platform for laboratories to develop gene-based tests that can generate results in one day versus culture-based tests that can take as much as a week. In addition, the ASRs can be validated by the laboratories for use with their current sample preparation methodologies, streamlining workflow.