Mobidiag, a company specialising in molecular diagnostics, will soon launch its Novodiag platform. The new platform enables quicker and more accurate treatment decisions, helping to avoid unnecessary use of antibiotics.
– Cost-effectiveness and efficiency are important factors in modern healthcare. At the present time, antibiotic resistance is on the rise and more powerful antibiotics are soon likely to prove ineffective unless they are prescribed and taken appropriately. All this calls for new diagnostic methods that enable quicker and more accurate treatment decisions, and help to avoid unnecessary prescriptions for antibiotics, says Tuomas Tenkanen, the CEO of Mobidiag. According to Mr Tenkanen, molecular diagnostics enable quick and accurate detection of the bacteria and viruses causing the disease, but the obstacles are the technically-challenging expensive equipment and tests.
Tackling the challenges
with two product lines
This is why Mobidiag is now resolutely focusing on tackling these two challenges in the modern healthcare sector.
– Large hospital laboratories need a system that is able to handle a large number of samples efficiently and in an automated manner. We developed the Amblidiag product line – which has already been launched – for this purpose. The product line enables extensive laboratory testing for intestinal infections, including for so-called super bacteria – and the products have been extremely well received in the marketplace, Mr Tenkanen adds.
Small and medium-sized laboratories, on the other hand, need a system which enables easy handling of the samples and quick analysis results without the user needing to know anything about how the technology inside the cassette works. The Novodiag product line is Mobidiag’s answer to these needs.
Quick, inexpensive and
exact diagnostics
Novodiag’s key idea is to enable the doctor to test for and identify several health issues with a single assay, without the need to deliberate on what exactly to test for. If the patient has diarrhoea, for example, one cassette enables broad testing of the bacteria causing the symptoms.
– There are quite a few germs which do not need any treatment, so when we know exactly which bacteria are causing the symptoms, antibiotics are no longer required as a ‘just in case’ remedy. All phases of the diagnostic cycle are carried out automatically inside the disposable cassette, and the test results are available in 1 to 1.5 hours. An additional benefit of the simple and inexpensive Novodiag cassette is the fact that most of the technology is located inside the equipment, Mr Tenkanen says.
TEXT: Mia Heiskanen
