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PHC in Practice - Pharma and Diagnostics collaborate to prove medical value of new CMV test.
Basel, 20 July 2009
Roche Molecular Diagnostics is working closely with Roche Pharma to evaluate its innovative diagnostic test for the cytomegalovirus (CMV). The new cobas AmpliPrep/cobas TaqMan (CAP/CTM) CMV assay will help doctors to better detect and quantify active CMV infection in the blood. This will lead to improved monitoring of treatment and prediction of CMV disease early, which can be especially critical in transplant patients.
CMV is a herpes virus that infects between 50 and 80 percent of adults in industrialized countries. Most healthy people who become infected have no symptoms, but the virus remains latent in the body and stays with them for the rest of their lives. In some cases, however, detecting CMV infection can be of vital importance. "CMV can cause major health problems for certain patient groups that suffer from a weakened immune system," said Tri Do, Director of Clinical Research and Scientific Affairs for Virology at RMD, who is currently involved in developing the new CAP/CTM CMV test. These high-risk groups include newborns as well as HIV and organ transplant patients. In these people, the virus can cause what is known as CMV disease and result in organ failure or even death. For many patients CMV prophylaxis with Valcyte is standard of care but in some the disease might still break out and this is equally important to capture and manage. |
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