Beyond Clinical Diagnostics
Nonclinical Diagnostics: Adapting Clinical Technologies to Applied Testing
The markets for molecular applied testing provide ample opportunity for growth. While human identification and forensics are established molecular marketplaces, the food- and animal-testing markets are now seeing molecular technologies gaining ground over traditional immunological tests. Across all segments of applied testing, customers are asking for the same thing: highly reliable, complete workflow solutions that produce results of the highest quality. To learn more about the current trends...
Nonclinical Diagnostics: Adapting Clinical Technologies to Applied Testing
    The markets for molecular applied testing provide ample opportunity for growth. While human identification and forensics are established molecular marketplaces, the food- and animal-testing markets are now seeing molecular technologies gaining ground over traditional immunological tests. Across all segments of applied testing, customers are asking for the same thing: highly reliable, complete workflow solutions that produce results of the highest quality. To learn more about...
15th Anniversary Roundtable: IVD Past, Present, and Future: Three Experts Weigh In
In vitro diagnostics is, by many accounts, an underrated, undervalued industry. While pharmaceutical and therapeutic medical-device innovations tend to garner most of the mainstream media’s attention, the fact remains that 60 to 70% of medical decisions are influenced by some type of diagnostic testing, yet diagnostics accounts for only a tiny fraction of overall healthcare spending.  Some of the major developments within this very important industry during the past 15 years include...
Nonclinical diagnostics for biowarfare testing
  For diagnostics manufacturers, entering into a contract with the military can be very lucrative and worthwhile; however, it is not for the faint of heart. From initial discussions to production of the final product, the process is very involved and can take years. To learn more about what a diagnostic company can expect when forging a relationship with the military or with local first-responder teams, IVD Technology editor Richard Park spoke with Matt Scullion, business development...
Assessing the future of immunoassays
A report by Kalorama Information (New York), “The Worldwide Market for In Vitro Diagnostic Tests,” concluded that the future for immunoassays is a mixed bag. In the clinical laboratory, mature assays will show moderate growth while emerging assays will fuel most of the growth in this IVD segment. However, all immunoassays will have to pass the test of medical research to demonstrate their contributions to improving patient outcomes. For example, increased knowledge of disease...
Promises and challenges of companion IVDs for oncology
Several conferences held last summer provided a basis for the notion that a relative gold rush of companion diagnostics in oncology is nearing reality. However, cancer biomarkers also present unique complexities for the lab industry, regulators, and physicians. The American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) focused its 2009 meeting on the idea that a personalized medicine approach must become the standard for effective clinical oncology. Three years ago, Her-2/neu stood...
Field use of biological IVD detection equipment
    Beyond Clinical Diagnostics         Photo by Andrew Brookes The responsibility of quickly ascertaining the validity of bioterrorist attacks and protecting the public from such potential attacks has fallen to first responders (i.e., police, military, public health authorities). They have come to rely on IVD technologies that have been adapted from clinical settings into various field arenas and can rapidly determine the degree of hazard in...
Nonclinical IVDs: Growing interest in a growing field
    In Person: Online Expanded Version         Rocky Ganske is president and CEO of Axela Inc., a life sciences company based in Toronto. He has more than 25 years of experience in the medical diagnostics and life sciences fields. He can be reached at r.ganske@axela.com. Manufacturers of human IVD technologies have been contributing their skills and knowledge more and more to the nonclinical and agricultural diagnostic markets. Turning their attention...
Building veterinary biodefense diagnostics
            Pam Hullinger is the chief veterinary officer and leader of the Food and Agricultural Security Program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Livermore, CA). In 2001, she was one of approximately 300 U.S. veterinarians selected to assist the United Kingdom's rapid response to a devastating outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. She can be reached at hullinger2@llnl.gov. When the United Kingdom suffered an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (...
Integrating detection and identification of biothreat agents
            The public perception of the risks and dangers of potentially imminent biothreats has changed considerably since certain events occurred in the 1990s and earlier this decade. The 1995 sarin attack in the Tokyo subway system that killed 12 people and injured more than 5000, and the 2001 anthrax scare at U.S. postal offices that killed five and infected 15 made major headlines and served as a wake-up call. However, the 2004 ricin attacks in a U.S....