In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, molecular diagnostics has witnessed a shift towards a more multiplexed approach for complete respiratory screening for SARS-CoV-2, and other respiratory pathogens that present similar symptoms in patients. This approach will support containment efforts and mitigate virus outbreaks.
The mission of companies with this approach, like Randox Biosciences, is to diagnose and differentiate the pathogens from a single sample. Some of the latest innovations in this field that are expected to fundamentally change health care include developments in polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and non-PCR methods, which have accelerated advancements in the analysis of proteins and nucleic acids.
The greatest impact of the trends in molecular diagnostics is likely to be witnessed in the integration of therapy, diagnostics, and individualized treatment. Randox Biosciences is, therefore, striving to advance scientific discovery, development, and diagnostics, using the Randox Patented Biochip technology, for accurate diagnostics for targeted patient therapy.
Randox is dedicated to improving healthcare using its innovative diagnostic technologies for a range of medical conditions including diabetes, cancer, stroke, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s. The company is focused on delivering highly accurate, accessible, and rapid diagnostics to improve global health, and save lives.
It offers complete, tailored solutions for clinical and research use. These services range from the initial cultivation of raw materials for assay development to providing companion diagnostics, molecular and custom-based assays covering several therapy areas that supply solutions to clinical, pharmaceutical, biopharma, life science, and research industries.
“Our molecular product range offers diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive solutions across a variety of disease areas including sexually transmitted infection (STI), respiratory tract infection, colorectal cancer, familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), and cardiovascular disease (CVD).”, states Martin Conway, Marketing Lead, Randox Biosciences.
The company also provides an extensive range of assay formats such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) genotyping, mutation detection, and pathogen detection across a myriad of infectious diseases. The tests are highly sensitive, specific, and comprehensive therefore enabling antibiotic stewardship and the seamless identification of primary and other co-infections simultaneously, even in asymptomatic patients.
At Randox Diagnostics the arrays are optimized for use with the Randox Evidence Investigator, which is a compact, semi-automated benchtop platform that consolidates the benefits of immunoassay and molecular diagnostics on a single platform with protein and DNA biochips. With the Evidence Investigator complete patient profiling is possible, because it has the most comprehensive test menu on the market currently.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Randox has dedicated itself to the monumental challenge of supporting the UK government in its fight against the highly infectious disease that has affected millions globally.
Randox scaled up its operations to help serve public demand from just 150 tests a day in early 2020 to 120,000 tests per day. In April 2021, the total number of gold-standard tests completed by the company, surpassed 12 million, accounting for 21% of the UK’s national testing program.
Randox also received much-deserved international recognition for high-quality design when its innovative molecular and immunoassay diagnostic analyzer, the Randox Discovery was awarded the 2021 Red Dot Award.
Randox Discovery is a fully automated bench-top platform that coalesces the normal workload of multiple laboratories into a single, compact piece of equipment. It uses the Randox patented Biochip Technology to simultaneously detect multiple targets from a single patient sample.
It does so by consolidating the molecular workflow into ten simple steps and can therefore produce the first batch of results in just three hours. The platform’s unique design is the culmination of five years of extensive research, development, and coordination with engineering teams across two continents.
Randox continues to improve and differentiate itself from its competitors by investing nearly 25% of its annual turnover, into new projects that will help make a real difference in medical diagnosis. Its patented biochip is a true testament to this statement.
“We are working towards introducing new platforms and increasing development in both our molecular and immunoassay testing portfolio including an advanced multiplex array for respiratory screening of up to 23 common respiratory pathogens that elicit similar symptoms,” says Conway, about the company’s future goals.
With its extensive portfolio, Randox continues to provide revolutionary global testing solutions that are aimed at mitigating current, resurgent societal infections. This resonates with the need of the hour to identify emergent, and possibly more contagious SARS-CoV-2 variants.