Bayer Diagnostics’ “first automated HIV test” approved

Bayer Diagnostics has announced that it has received approval from the FDA for what is described as the first fully-automated test for antibodies associated with the HIV virus.

The system is entitled Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Enhanced (EHIV), designed to work in conjunction with Bayer’s ADVIA Centaur Immunoassay system. It will be able to detect antibodies of HIV-1 and HIV-2 virus types and the sub-type O peptide, which the company says meets worldwide healthcare standards for the detection of “all known types” of HIV.

EHIV should eliminate manual labour and has various automated functions such as algorithmic processing, automated repeats of critical samples and various user-defined features.

Tony Bihl, president of Bayer Diagnostics, remarked: “With the addition of the EHIV test, Bayer offers the most comprehensive fully automated infectious disease portfolio in the United States, thus enabling laboratorians to enhance their level of testing and aid physicians in making treatment decisions.”

Bayer Diagnostics’ automated ADVIA Centaur Immunoassay system is also used to detect hepatitis A, B and C.

Bayer Diagnostics is part of the Bayer Healthcare Group, whose current head, Arthur Higgins, a Scotsman, has been named as the new management board chairman of the Bayer Schering Pharma group, following the merger of Bayer Pharmaceuticals with Schering AG. Current Bayer management board chairman, Werner Wenning, will become supervisory board chairman.

The deal will create Germany’s largest pharmaceutical companies, although still some way behind global heavyweights such as Pfizer or GlaxoSmithKline, according to Reuters.

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