At AACC 2019, a Demand for Faster Tests, Automated Features and Relevant Biomarkers: Kalorama White Paper
Make IVD tests faster, focus on biomarkers that best serve patients, and relieve lab staff of routine tasks. That was the message at the world’s largest gathering of laboratory professionals and IVD vendors this month, according to market researcher Kalorama Information. The American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Annual Scientific Meeting was held in Anaheim, CA, this month. Kalorama Information, part of Science and Medicine Group, attended the meeting and analyzed products and trends, as well as interviewed vendors and experts.
Kalorama is set to publish the 12th edition of its “Worldwide Market for In Vitro Diagnostics Tests” report, due out this month.
Vendors used the meeting to showcase faster tests, such as an Instrumentation Laboratory 70-second BMP (a common test used to diagnose a host of conditions) and an Abbott three-minute HbA1c (a test used for diabetes), Kalorama said. Vendors also promoted automation and IT features that make test operation seemless.
In-development products are often demonstrated at the meeting. This year, Beckman Coulter’s DxOne Workflow, which offers cloud-based automation and QC features for small labs, and Ortho Clinical Diagnostics’ Vitros XT 3400, increasing throughput and reducing footprint, were previewed to laboratory managers and other buyers who attend the meeting.
“Time is of the essence, it is said, and that was the case in Anaheim at the latest AACC,” Kalorama noted in a white paper on the meeting. “As in other years, Kalorama found that vendors emphasized time-savings in their pitches. That meant saving lab staff time, increasing walkaway time, reducing sample-to-result time, and increasing test-to-treatment time.”
The White Paper, What You May Have Missed at AACC 2019 can be downloaded from Kalorama’s website. Developments noted in the white paper included the following:
Biomarker Discovery Process Needs to Be Flipped: A plenary talk by David Walt, PhD – “Biomarker Discovery from Technology Development to Clinical Application” emphasized that the genetic technology he helped to foster is creating an overwhelming amount of biomarkers but not yet optimizing patient care. He emphasized that developers need to start with an unmet clinical need and approach discovery with an eye to clinical utility.
AACC President Touts Point-of-Care Certification, Takes on PAMA: In an interview with Kalorama sister publication LabPulse.com, AACC 2019 President Carmen Wiley, PhD, promoted the work the organization is doing on PAMA. “The ‘A’ in PAMA is supposed to represent access, and it actually does the opposite. The most vulnerable patients are going to be affected, because they won’t obtain the tests they need.”
“Disruptive” Sepsis System Wins Prize: Sepsis is often misdiagnosed; hence, the plethora of discussion and exhibits on the disease at AACC over the years. Inflammatix’s in-development 30-minute sepsis test attracted attention and an award. Its product, the company claims, can detect the severity of a patient’s infection in less than 20 minutes. In its early stages, the product uses mRNA and gene signature technology, and clinical trials have not yet been performed.
More findings can be found in Kalorama Information’s white paper, “What You May Have Missed at AACC 2019.“
