bioMérieux - Advancing Patient Healthcare Through Clinical Diagnostics

A world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics for 45 years, bioMérieux provides diagnostic solutions (reagents, instruments and software) that determine the source of disease and contamination to improve patient health and ensure consumer safety.

Our company is focused on diagnosing infectious diseases – in particular, sepsis, healthcare-associated infection (HAI), tuberculosis, AIDS and hepatitis. We also offer a range of tests that deliver high medical value results for cancer screening / monitoring and cardiovascular emergencies.

Diagnostic tools for HAI prevention and control

bioMérieux focuses on three key areas in infection control (prevention, surveillance and intervention). We work closely with microbiologists and physicians to provide the most relevant diagnostic tools to help prevent and control HAI. Our unique offer helps improve healthcare quality and patient safety, while actively contributing to reducing the cost and number of HAI cases.

Key features:

• A unique combination of culture and molecular testing for a complete MRSA screening solution: chromID™ MRSA and NucliSENS EasyQ® MRSA*
• An automated test for detection of Clostridium difficile toxins A and B: VIDAS® C. difficile toxin A&B
• Epidemiology / surveillance software: VigiGUARD®** and ICNet®***
• Reference technique for manual antibiotic resistance testing: Etest®
• Automated identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing: VITEK® 2
• Genotyping of microbial strains: DiversiLab®

Emergency diagnostics panel for ER and critical care units

The VIDAS emergency diagnostics panel covers early diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), heart failure, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), and early management of severe bacterial infections.

This panel is particularly adapted for the rapid differential diagnosis of patients with common symptoms such as chest pain, shortness-of-breath (SOB), fever and cough.

• VIDAS D-Dimer Exclusion™: the referenced non-invasive test for safe, reliable exclusion of DVT/PE
• VIDAS NT-proBNP: for early diagnosis and risk stratification of heart failure
• VIDAS Troponin I Ultra: the biomarker of choice for myocardial damage and diagnosis of ACS
• VIDAS B.R.A.H.M.S. PCT: for early detection and monitoring of sepsis and bacterial infection

With a turnaround time of 20min-35min, these reliable tests help physicians determine the adapted course of action fast for improved patient management.

Early biomarker for the management of severe bacterial infections / sepsis

Early recognition and timely initiation of appropriate therapy is key to improving the outcome of patients with sepsis.

Procalcitonin (PCT) – a biomarker which is specifically increased during bacterial infection and sepsis - is increasingly being recognised as a useful diagnostic tool.

VIDAS B.R.A.H.M.S PCT is an innovative, automated assay for sensitive and specific measurement of procalcitonin levels. It is indicated for use in the early detection of sepsis and severe bacterial infections, and an aid to assess risk of progression to severe sepsis and septic shock.

This test provides results in just 20min and runs on bioMérieux’s VIDAS and mini VIDAS systems, which are fully adapted to emergency / critical care settings.

Full Microbiology Lab Automation™

bioMérieux is leading the way in delivering Full Microbiology Lab Automation to microbiology labs worldwide. This avant-garde approach streamlines laboratory workflow and boosts efficiency through a complete range of automated platforms for front-end media processing, blood culture, identification, antimicrobial susceptibility testing and microbial strain typing.

• Inoculation of plated media: PREVI™ Isola
• Automated staining of sample slides: PREVI Color Gram
• Urinary screening (detection of bacteria and particles): UF-1000i/UF500i range
• Blood culture: BacT/ALERT®
• Identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing: VITEK 2
• Genotyping of microbial strains: DiversiLab

*available end of 2009
**not available in US
***available in US only