Roche receives FDA approval for first HIV-1/HIV-2 Qualitative Test on the cobas 6800/8800 Systems in the fight against HIV/AIDS

Basel, 1 September 2020 - Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the cobas ® HIV-1/HIV-2 Qualitative Test for use on the fully automated cobas® 6800/8800 Systems in the U.S. The test provides healthcare professionals with a single result to confirm HIV diagnosis and differentiate HIV-1 and HIV-2, an important distinction needed to identify appropriate treatment options.“Roche is committed to improving diagnostic technologies in the fight against HIV/AIDS,” said Thomas Schinecker, CEO Roche Diagnostics. “Being able to reliably determine a person’s HIV status and accurately diagnose which HIV type they may have is crucial for patients and healthcare provider s in preventing further community transmission and selecting an individual’s best treatment options.”  Studies show that 50% of new HIV infections may be transmitted during the acute period, between three days and three weeks from the time of infection1. Current serology-based testing methods rely on the ability to detect an antibody or antigen response. As a result, they can fail to identify an infection if the person is tested prior to having a detectable antibody or antigen response, which can take several weeks to generate. The higher sensitivity of PCR technology, which is used with the cobas HIV-1/HIV-2 Qualitative Test, can reduce this time-to-detection period by one week or more. This significant reduction in time to detection is critica...
Source: Roche Media News - Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news