Biocartis and Fast-track diagnostics Collaborate on Infectious Diseases

Biocartis and Fast-track diagnostics are developing a multiplex respiratory panel for detecting viral and bacterial targets in upper respiratory tract infections. [iStock/Pictore]

Biocartis and Fast-track diagnostics, which provides multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test kits for infectious disease, entered into a strategic collaboration to develop a range of multiplex infectious disease tests to run on the Biocartis Idylla™ molecular diagnostics (MDx) system.

Biocartis and Fast-track diagnostics plan to use a new approach to infectious disease diagnostics called “syndromic multiplex testing,” which should enable the identification of a broader range of disease pathogens in a single test. Most current methods focus on the detection of one or a few pathogens expected to be present in a patient sample. If the sample is negative, a new test will be performed for other pathogens, increasing the time to result. With syndromic multiplex tests, the initial test will not just look for the most likely pathogen, but also for a range of less likely pathogens, preventing the need to retest.

As part of the collaboration, tests from Fast-track diagnostics’ infectious disease menu will be developed for use on the Idylla fully automated platform.

The first assay to be developed under the collaboration is a multiplex respiratory panel for the detection of viral and bacterial targets in upper respiratory tract infections.