Roche has launched Cobas 6800/8800 Systems, two integrated and fully automated molecular testing systems for blood and plasma donor screening in markets accepting the CE mark in Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The new systems, designed for donor screening, viral load monitoring, women’s health and microbiology testing, are available in medium and high throughput models.

Based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology, the new systems will deliver increased automation and throughput with shorter time to results, providing users with greater flexibility to increase overall workflow efficiencies.

The company said that each system offers results for the first 96 tests in less than 3.5 hours, with the cobas 6800 System delivering up to 384 results in an eight hour shift, and the cobas 8800 System generating about 960 results in the same time.

"These systems will help ensure a safe blood supply as the dynamics of the blood screening industry continue to rapidly change."

Sanquin Blood Supply Diagnostics director Harry Bos said: "The integrated and fully automated design of the new cobas 6800/8800 Systems will allow labs to generate a high volume of results faster, with fewer manual steps, thus improving laboratory operations.

"These systems will help ensure a safe blood supply as the dynamics of the blood screening industry continue to rapidly change."

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The two systems also enable for simultaneous processing of multiple assays and are designed to allow up to eight hours (cobas 6800) and four hours (cobas 8800) of walk-away time with minimal user interaction.

Roche Diagnostics COO Roland Diggelmann said: "The cobas 6800/8800 Systems represent a new class of molecular diagnostic instruments.

"Over the last several years, we have collaborated with top industry leaders and several hundred customers to design a platform that truly meets the evolving needs of the molecular diagnostics laboratory.

"These systems will set new industry standards with technical innovation for throughput, speed-of-results, automation and flexibility that have not been seen before in a molecular diagnostic system. We are proud of the benefits they will bring to people and the healthcare environment."

The portfolio launched by the company includes the cobas 6800 and 8800 Systems, the cobas p 680 instrument to support the creation of donor sample pools, and three next-generation assays for donor screening: cobas MPX, cobas WNV and cobas HEV.

In order to complete the donor screening menu, the company plans to launch a next-generation cobas DPX test in the fourth quarter of this year.

The cobas 6800/8800 systems are now available in all markets accepting the CE mark in Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Africa and Asia. The systems are not currently available in the US.