When last we checked in with Ireland-based Biosensia Ltd., CEO Diarmuid Flavin told IVD Technology all about the virtues of the RapiPlex point-of-care (POC) platform that he would be bringing to Clinical Lab Expo 2012 to woo licensing and development partners. The moment of truth is here. You are invited to come and kick the proverbial tires at booth #5224, where the company will demo its device.

In the interview in the current issue of IVD Technology, Flavin highlighted the simple workflow of the RapiPlex system. Just “add the sample and wait for the result to be displayed,” said Flavin. “All elements of the assay are automated. This level of simplicity from a user point of view is critical to ensure market adoption and penetration of the pharmacy/clinic/doctor’s office market, where future POC testing will see significant growth.”

Biosensia’s technology offers the IVD community an opportunity to capitalize on forecast double-digit growth in POC testing, Flavin added. A multiplexing IVD platform, RapiPlex gives access to a range of diagnostic applications, including acute phase diagnostics, prognostic diagnostic panels and companion diagnostics at the point of care. It enables the transition of complex immunoassays from the central laboratory to the point of care across a variety of sample types, according to Biosensia. As many as 12 separate analyses can be performed simultaneously on a single sample, and assay results are available in less than 15 minutes. The platform integrates an optical reader to provide a numerical readout that does not require user interpretation.

Applications include the detection of infectious diseases, such as HIV, respiratory diseases and sexually transmitted diseases; drugs of abuse; cardiac, kidney and liver disease markers; and hormone and allergy testing. RapiPlex also has applications in veterinary, food and environmental testing.

Biosensia presented scientific data at a recent AACC conference showing RapiPlex’s capability of detecting drugs of abuse as well as cardiac biomarkers that indicate a heart attack has happened.

A venture-capital funded company based in the Nova UCD incubation center at University College Dublin in Ireland, Biosensia collaborates with healthcare companies to develop POC diagnostic products.

— Norbert Sparrow