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"Institutions accessing Novation contracts are recognizing that activesurveillance, with rapid turnaround time, is a key component of acomprehensive infection control program," said Rob Koska, Cepheid's SeniorVice President of Worldwide Commercial Operations. "We look forward to workingwith these institutions as they deploy the most rapid and effectivesurveillance testing technology in the industry."
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MRSA is recognized as a growing public health concern, cited as a leadingcause of Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAIs). Infection rates have increasedevery year since 1970. Xpert MRSA test results are currently available inapproximately 70 minutes, thereby enabling rapid identification of carriers ofthe pathogen in less than 2 hours from the time of patient sampling to thedelivery of test results to the floor. The availability of the Xpert MRSA testand the GeneXpert System is expected to enable Novation hospitals to implementmore efficient infection control measures, leading to lower HAI rates andimproved patient care.
On-demand Xpert MRSA results enable healthcare professionals to rapidlyidentify MRSA colonized patients entering the hospital population, therebyreducing risk of potential transmission. As recent studies published in boththe Journal of the American Medical Association and the Annals of InternalMedicine demonstrate, true rapid test turnaround time is critical to reachingoptimal results with a fully implemented infection control plan to reduce HAIrates and improve patient care.
About the GeneXpert Molecular Diagnostic Platform
The GeneXpert System is a closed, self-contained, fully-integrated andautomated platform that represents a paradigm shift in the automation ofmolecular analysis, producing accurate results in a timely manner with minimalrisk of contamination. The GeneXpert System is the only system to combineon-board sample preparation with real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction)amplification and detection functions for fully integrated and automatednucleic acid analysis. The system is designed to purify, concentrate, detectand identify targeted nucleic acid sequences thereby delivering answersdirectly from unprocessed samples. Modular in design, the GeneXpert System hasa variety of configurations to meet the broad range of testing demands of anyclinical environment.
About Cepheid
Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., Cepheid (Nasdaq: CPHD) is an on-demandmolecular diagnostics company that develops, manufactures, and marketsfully-integrated systems for genetic analysis in the clinical, industrial andbiothreat markets. The company's systems enable rapid, sophisticated genetictesting for organisms and genetic-based diseases by automating otherwisecomplex manual laboratory procedures. The company's easy-to-use systemsintegrate a number of complicated and time-intensive steps, including samplepreparation, DNA amplification and detection, which enable the analysis ofcomplex biological samples in its proprietary test cartridges. Through itsstrong molecular biology capabilities, the company is focusing on thoseapplications where rapid molecular testing is particularly important, such asidentifying infectious disease and cancer in the clinical market; food,agricultural, and environmental testing in the industrial market; andidentifying bio-terrorism agents in the biothre
