TRENDS & PERSPECTIVES

• Nova Biomedical (Waltham, MA) introduced the new StatStrip glucose test strip for bedside glucose testing that measures and corrects hematocrit interference. StatStrip incorporates a patented strip technology that uses four measuring wells, instead of the standard single well, and eliminates oxygen interference to provide accurate glucose results.
  
  
• Lab21 (Cambridge, UK) has obtained a license agreement from Celera (Rockville, MD) to access its CRS7, which will measure the risk of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C viral infection in the UK and Ireland. The availability of the new test will assist in the clinical development of new antifibrotic and antihepatitis drugs.
  
  
• FDA has granted Quidel Corp. (San Diego) a CLIA waiver for the QuickVue RSV test for the qualitative detection of respiratory syncytial virus, a disorder recognized as the leading cause of pneumonia and bronchiolitis among children 2 years of age and younger. The waiver allows the test a wider range of availability, especially in physician offices and clinics, where waived tests are used most frequently.
  
  
• Adnavance Technologies Inc. (Vancouver) announced that it has completed a Series B financing totaling CDN$3.7 million. The proceeds will fund continued development and expansion of the company’s ultrasensitive proprietary metallized-DNA technology, designed to enable hospitals and smaller independent laboratories to conduct their own molecular testing.
  
  
• Genzyme Genetics (Westborough, MA) has entered into a sub­license agreement with DxS Ltd. (Manchester, UK) that will grant DxS worldwide rights, with the exception of North America and Hong Kong, for diagnostic testing of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations in non–small cell lung cancer. The license also permits DxS to commercialize diagnostic and research products that detect mutations in the kinase domain of the EGFR gene.