Cepheid's Multi-Target Test Design Enables Detection of Influenza Variants

"In developing our portfolio of respiratory tests, we include multiple conserved gene targets to account for genetic drift within the influenza genome," said David Persing, M.D., Ph.D., EVP and Chief Scientific Officer of Cepheid. "The resulting target redundancy mitigates the impact of mutational drift. Our three-gene target design for detection of influenza A reduces the risk of false-negative test results, even in the event of an MGTF." "In developing our portfolio of respiratory tests, we...

"In developing our portfolio of respiratory tests, we include multiple conserved gene targets to account for genetic drift within the influenza genome," said David Persing, M.D., Ph.D., EVP and Chief Scientific Officer of Cepheid. "The resulting target redundancy mitigates the impact of mutational drift. Our three-gene target design for detection of influenza A reduces the risk of false-negative test results, even in the event of an MGTF."

Cepheid's respiratory tests all utilize a multi-target approach for the detection of influenza, providing target redundancy to mitigate the potential impact of genetic shift and drift on strain detection:

Table 1. Influenza genes targeted by Cepheid tests

"The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), United Kingdom (UK) has asked all influenza test manufacturers in the UK to analyze their tests for any impact to diagnostic performance against the H1N1pdm09 strain. Our Scientific Affairs team performed in silico testing of the performance of our portfolio of influenza tests against the new H1N1pdm09 strain," said Mike Loeffelholz, Ph.D., D(ABMM) and Senior Director, Scientific Affairs. "Our analysis shows 100% predicted coverage for this strain."

Visit www.cepheid.com for more information.

References

Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., Cepheid is a leading molecular diagnostics company. Cepheid is dedicated to improving healthcare by developing, manufacturing, and marketing accurate yet easy-to-use molecular systems and tests. By automating highly complex and time-consuming manual procedures, the company's solutions deliver a better way for institutions of any size to perform sophisticated molecular diagnostic testing for organisms and genetic-based diseases. Through its strong molecular biology capabilities, the company is focusing on those applications where accurate, rapid, and actionable test results are needed most, such as managing infectious diseases and cancer. For more information, visit http://www.cepheid.com.

US-IVD and CE-IVD. In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Device.
^ For use under an Emergency Use Authorization in the United States.

For Cepheid Media Inquiries: 
Darwa Peterson
[email protected] 

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