Microbioz India July 2018 Medical

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Product Launches 30

The edition brings for you a cover story titled Should doctors prescribe happiness? Authored by Heena Lakhani, Assistant Professor, Psychology Arihant College, Indore

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Added to this is an article titled “Nipah Virus: The Out Break” Is authored by Shailja Pandey, B.Tech Biotech student from Amity University

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Added to this is an article titled “Make your hospital walls speak for your brand” Is authored by Mr. Mohammed Ilias, BCC Healthcare Chennai.

The edition also covers recent Healthcare news articles and product launches collected from worldwide sources to update the readers with the current trends in the industry

mfine appoints Anitha Venkat as Senior Director

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According to a study, minimising exposure to common hormonedisrupting chemicals may help reduce obesity rates.

Phenomenex Launches SPE Product to Streamline Urine Drug Testing 30 Phenomenex Inc, Torrance, Calif, has introduced Strata-X-Drug B Plus, a solid phase extraction (SPE) sample preparation product for urine drug testing in clinical and forensic toxicology labs.

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ear friends and readers, with gratitude in our heart for your extreme love and support, once again we have brought the special edition of your favorite publication “Microbioz India”. Through our contacts and consistent pursuance, we have made the best attempt and efforts to enrich this edition with excellence articles giving you a significant and insightful information about the current trends in Medical Industry.

The cover story of the edition is titled, “Should doctors prescribe happiness?” and is authored by Ms. Heena Lakhani, Assistant Professor, Arihant College, Indore who has emphasized on treating a patient beyond medicines. She says, “In an era, where success means a handsome job, huge bank balance, luxury car and a big house in the most sophisticated place of world, who cares if you are happy or not?

Thinking about happiness to be essential for a healthy life is beyond thoughts.”

She further adds that, “In a decade where, health industry has grown and diversified both horizontally and vertically, and have become one of the most customized and demand driven industry, we must really understand that now what doctors are treating is not just a diseased body, but a damaged soul and happiness does not only help to heal the damage, but to create virtues.” To read more, please turn to the cover story.

Next, we have a featured article titled “Make your hospital walls speak for your brand” authored by Mr. Mohammed Ilias, a healthcare branding and marketing strategist who is running BCC Healthcare - an integrated healthcare branding and marketing agency having their presence in India, UAE and Srilanka. Do check it inside for more information. Added to it is the featured article on NIPAH VIRUS: THE OUTBREAK by Shailja Pandey, B.Tech Biotech, Amity University, Gurgaon. Please check it inside.

As always, the edition continues to bring for you the latest market research news and product launches collected from worldwide sources to keep you updated with what’s going on in the industry.

Dear friends and readers, I hope you received some good & valuable information through our magazine. Once again, I would like to thank you for your invaluable love and support. We are always eager to receive your valuable feedback and suggestions, as it will help us to come-up with better content each time. For any further value addition, please write to us at editor@microbiozindia.com.

Cover Story

Should doctors prescribe happiness?

Heena Lakhani Assistant Professor Psychology Arihant College, Indore Email ID: heena.shiv@gmail.com n an era, where success means a handsome job, huge bank balance, luxury car and a big house in the most sophisticated place of world, who cares if you are happy or not?

Thinking about happiness to be essential for a healthy life is beyond thoughts. In a decade where, health industry have grown and diversified both horizontally and vertically, and have become one of the most customised and demand driven industry, we must really understand that now what doctors are treating is not just a diseased body, but a damaged soul. And happiness does not only help to heal the damage, but to create virtues.

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Let’s first understand how being happy, really makes you healthy. In a research conducted by psychologists in early twentieth century, it was noticed that the happiest participants in research had a lower heart rate and a better blood pressure. It would excite you to know that being happy reduces the risk of heart disease upto 22%.

So, you understand that just prescribing medicines may keep the disease away, but making your patient happy, you will create a will which will heal him.

Besides this, being happy and having positive emotions in your mind also keeps your immune

system strong, and don’t we all want this a strong immune system will definitely be a gift . Strong immune system will result in less chances of getting diseases even chronicle health disease like breast cancer can be fought bravely if people are optimistic and happy

Heena Lakhani says the report of research conducted on Australian women who were diagnosed with breast cancer.

And when your heart pumps well, your stress level is zero and you can fight disease well, you tend to live a long life, and believe me long life can perform miracles. Though, medical science still have to figure out the exact mechanism which helps happiness to improve human health, but isn’t it enough that it give chance to humans to live and perform better; Now if happiness is the emotion which lower down your blood pressure and your stress

level and reduce your risk of health problems, don’t you think we should also prescribe happiness to our patients!! Cultivating the power of happiness, mindful and strength will help the patient to be healthy and fight the disease well.

So let’s help each other being happy, as happiness is one of the most communicable diseases. The pathway to happiness is simple, but consciousness personal endeavour is required to be happy. Let’s start with simple things, understand yourself know what you like and dislike, and encourage yourself in activities which will help you to concentrate on present. Engaging fully in your work gives you satisfaction and a sense of purpose which leads to being happiness.

Knowing your true self and acting in accordance with your virtues also leads to happiness.

Now, when do you know you are happy and healthy, when time passes and you do not look watch and this happen when you do something you really love, you flow, with activities and do not feel emotions piling up. So all the people out there, help your doctors heal you better be happy, think positive and love your life, you may do things which would benefit society as whole.

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Featured article

NIPAH VIRUS: THE OUTBREAK Shailja Pandey B.Tech Biotech, Amity University Haryana, Gurgaon, Manesar-122413 ipah virus of genus Henipavirus is recent outbreak in the Kozhikode district of Kerala. Till date 17 deaths have been reported. It a necessity to spread awareness regarding this viral infection as the symptoms are either negligible or sometimes they can be confused with common cold. Nipah virus is a RNA virus that causes Nipah Virus infection (NiV). The origin of its outbreak was reported from Malaysia during 1998 in pigs and pig farmers. Singapore, Bangladesh and India area witness to the dangerous effect of the virus. The highest mortality of infection has been reported from Bangladesh. This virus has not only caused a panic within the country but also globally.

The fruits and vegetables that were exported from Kerala have recently faced a ban from Gulf nations.

Important facts about this deadly viral infection can be summarized as below.

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Source of Transmission

raw date palm sap or infected edibles are the mode of transmission of this infection.

This virus has been reported as a zoonotic outbreak (infecting animals and humans) along with swine flu and bird flu. Most of the infections reported in humans have originated from animals, hence affecting mostly the people who work in proximity to animals. Fruit bats and pigs have been serving as transmission source.

Sample collection and Diagnosis

Incubation period This virus takes 4-14 days from the time of infection for incubation. In a short time it has earned a deadly reputation. The early symptoms vary from common cold to brain inflammation confusing the patient with general viral infection. People infected have a low survival rate (Less than 30-40%).

Symptomatic outbreak The symptoms of this viral infection include respiratory problems, neurological problems and encephalitis (inflammation of brain) that may lead to the condition of comatose. Patients can also experience some personality trait changes.

Mode of transmission

CSF (cerebrospinal fluid), urine, throat swab or blood is collected as a sample for Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) and analysis.

Saliva is also used for obtaining viral RNA from infected people. Antibody detection after RT-PCR using IgG and IgM antibody is done to confirm presence of Nipah virus. Immunohistochemistry of tissues also confirms the presence of infection.

Treatment There is no pre infection treatment available for this virus. The people suffering from infection are kept on respiratory support. Vaccination for Nipah virus is yet to be discovered. Therefore, it has no definite treatment. Developing countries like India has imported monoclonal antibodies from Australia for Nipah virus antigen. This treatment has not been tested on humans as it is still experimental. Ribavirin (antiviral medication) has been exported from Malaysia as well.

Since it is not the first outbreak in India the government must take care of the treatment options.

West Bengal has been a witness of 50 people dead in 2001 and 2007 together. The skin to skin contact with infected animals and humans, drinking infected

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Threat Nipah virus is a threat to people living in or near the area of outbreak. It is unlikely for distant people to be affected and if they suffer similar symptoms then it is likely to be common cold. Awareness and reliable source of information Authorized websites of WHO (World health Organization) and CDC (Center for disease prevention and control are reliable sources of information related to this disease.

Guided treatment protocols must be followed for this disease to prevent nosocomial infections.

Kerala government has notified about the containment of this infection. The medical staff and Professionals of the state owe the credit. But as it is said, “little knowledge is a dangerous thing�. We all Should be well aware of these diseases to prevent ourselves and our loved ones from being a victim to them. Awareness is the first step towards tackling and treatment of diseases. Outbreaks of NiV could be more frequent as the increasing population would increase the chances of infected interactions more likely causing chances of virus infection. The insects and bugs that originally infected animals have become their new host as in swine flu. But with the development of medical science and current researches going on, a definite treatment is yet to be found.

Featured article

How Government spending is benefiting future of emergency medical services in India

hen Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the Union Budget for 201819 earlier this year, the Government reiterated its plan to achieve a high growth rate of 8%.He drew attention to how Indian polity, economy, and society had shown great resilience in the face of adjusting to structural reforms. In light of this, the Budget focused on rural development and strengthening the agricultural sector, infrastructural development, and providing quality education across the country. The Union Budget also committed towards ensuring quality healthcare for the economically less privileged, and saw the launch of the world’s largest publicly funded healthcare programme. Under this, 10 crore low income families will each receive up to INR 5 lakhs per year, in government aid, for basic services.

While this is certainly a welcome move, India still has a long way to go if we are to catch up with our Western counterparts. A large part of the reason for the lag is that in India, the total expense on healthcare is just approximately 4 percent of our GDP, whereas the United States allocated 17 percent

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towards the same. Similarly, close to 70 percent of the Indian population pays for medical bills out of their own pockets, compared to the US, where the out of pocket expenditure is as low as 10-12 percent.

In a survey conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the US ranked 37 among the best performing countries in the healthcare sector, while India stood at 112.

If India is to improve its ranking, as well as healthcare offerings, the Government should look at increasing its spends in healthcare, and investing more in emergency medical services, for which, life support ambulances are key to developing the sector.

It is a proven fact, that a patient who receives basic emergency medical care, and is transported to a hospital within 15-20 minutes of a mishap, has the highest survival rates. To this extent, dialling a number from the list of emergency numbers in India can be the biggest difference between a life saved and a life lost.

Emergency medical services, including life support ambulances, have been in existence for a while now,

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Featured article but have comparatively new beginnings in India. If we are to use this to the fullest, the Government needs to increase its spending in the sector, in order to achieve improved outcomes and decreased morbidity and mortality rates.

In India, the sector is still largely fragmented, and investing in it can bear several advantages, the foremost being that of improved public health.

Investing in life support ambulances would give the public a greater chance of being able to access quality healthcare, thereby saving precious lives. Reduced cost of healthcare is also possible with government intervention and investment. If the government is to invest in the sector and help lower the costs of treatment, it would greatly help influence people’s decisions to get treatment for conditions that would otherwise go neglected owing to the cost factor. It is here also, that a pre-determined list of emergency numbers in India can help citizens avail medical help at the earliest.

By investing in emergency medical services, there is no doubt, then, that we will be able to enjoy a better source of employment, as it will create a huge demand for doctors, nurses, paramedics, drivers, support staff, and more. Alternatively, it will also help improve the accuracy of data samples, and provide authorities with a clearer picture of healthcare in the country.

Looking forward, we need to understand that public healthcare is not something we can ignore, and that, if we are to improve our rankings, investing in emergency medical services is the need of the hour.

About Mr. Manish Sacheti CFO, Ziqitza Healthcare Limited Manish Sacheti is the Chief Financial Officer at Ziqitza Healthcare Limited. He has had 23 years of rich experience in different managerial operations across several fields. An engineer by profession and an entrepreneur by appetite, he is responsible for overseeing all financial and CS activities of the company along with procurement of all capital goods for the company as well as handling the PPU model.

Manish has previously worked with Barclays Securities as Vice President, Private Clients where he successfully worked towards generating revenues for the bank by acquiring assets across Mumbai, Jaipur, London, Hong Kong and Belgium. Apart from holding several crucial managerial positions, Manish has also been an entrepreneur for most of his career.

As a part of Ziqitza's founding team, he successfully undertook the marketing, financial and business development of the emergency service provider.

Manish graduated from Illinois Institute of Technology, USA and completed his MBA from University of Pittsburgh, USA. In his leisure time, Manish enjoys playing Squash, watching movies and NBA (National Basketball Association).

Guest post

Make your hospital walls speak for your brand Branding inside and outside your hospital helps in building the positive ambience that builds credibility with your patients, increases motivation among employees and even can act as a word of mouth conversation trigger.

Mohammed Ilias Director, BCC Healthcare www.healthcarebranding.co.in

randing is an arduous task, and hospital branding is especially challenging for a numerous sensitive reasons. At the helm of it, the mission of hospital branding is to create awareness before an individual has a need or even any interest in the predominantly desirable notion of “going to the hospital.” To make this whole experience a pleasant one, it is important to communicate the right message in the most desirable way.

A patient gets to know about the healthcare institution either through a referral or an advert. Once the patient comes to the hospital he needs to get a holistic view of the accomplishments of the hospital in terms of providing healthcare, through appropriate communication.

Discussed below is the articulation of the 10HB Module (Hospital Branding Modules) developed by BCC Healthcare which gives a holistic view of the brand communication at hospitals of any size and various aspects of it.

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1. Credibility Communication Credibility communication is a communication which talks about credibility building elements. There are a number of things about the organization which can build instant credibility for first time walk in patients or old patients and also to the employees at large. Credibility communication include displaying patient testimonials, case studies – critical cases where in a patient is cured despite acute chances of survival, awards and accolades, certifications and alliances with health leaders to maintain quality standards.

2. Awareness Communication Every hospital has a responsibility to spread awareness about the diseases, good life style habits, and conduct awareness training sessions. Disease awareness communications are communications disseminated to consumers that discuss a particular disease or health condition. Awareness communications can provide important health information to consumers and can encourage consumers to seek appropriate treatment. This is particularly important for diseases that require immediate attention, under-treated health conditions and symptoms which are commonly not everyone is aware of and also act as a preventive health checker.

3. Capability Communication Capability communication is a communication which refers to the capability of the hospital in delivering healthcare. Capability of the hospital in terms of infrastructure, technologically advanced equipment and showcasing the doctor’s experience and expertise to perform critical operations. These can be illustrated by showcasing the milestone of the hospital as to how it has grown over a period of time and also the various breakthroughs of the hospital that can instill confidence among patients about the capability of the hospital.

4. Etiquette Communication Etiquette communication outlines the dos and don’ts to be followed inside the hospital. These can be as simple as restrictive usage of mobile phones inside the hospital to critical scenarios of communicating the procedure to dispose the medical waste to clinical staff. These etiquettes ensure the safety and well-being of the

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Guest post patients. Proper hygiene and precautions are very essential for the good health of the patient. Hence, it is significant to follow the etiquette designed to specifically communicate certain important aspects to maintain the hospital decorum inside the hospital.

8. Way Finding Communication

It is important to build a sustainable employer communication program to maintain a two-way relationship between the organization and staff. Over a period of time this will motivate the staff and align them to the vision of the organization in performing their day to day tasks. It is a building block for organizational culture and provides a catalyst for employee engagement.

Organizations that manage change effectively and that have effective employer communications are more likely to outperform their peers in financial performance.

Healthcare way finding is a serious customer and patient relations issue for hospitals and medical facilities.

Because patients and visitors, inside and outside the facility, are usually in a heightened state of anxiety and are thus worried about finding their way to their intended destination. For first-time visitors and patients, this heightened state of anxiety is multiplied.

An effective healthcare way finding system provides direction and empowerment for visitors moving to find their destination in a facility. Since you only get one chance to make a good first impression, the way finding system should be designed with the first-time visitor in mind. A successful and effective way finding system reveals layers of information for the visitor to get to their destination – a process called progressive disclosure, which provides only enough information necessary to get the visitor to the next decision-making point.

6. Brand Engagement Communication

9. Statutory Communication

5. Employer Communication

The patient’s experience typically starts with setting an appointment, arriving at the hospital, filling out an arduous form, waiting, reading (usually old) magazines, waiting some more and finally speaking with a physician but not really knowing what questions to ask because of a lack of familiarity with the ailment or medical procedure.This experience includes multiple missed opportunities to communicate and connect with the patient. This would be an excellent opportunity for organizations to build their brand to be perceived in a number of ways such as quality oriented, transparent, technologically advanced, loyal, caring and more.

Carefully created content during this engagement will help position your brand in the minds of the patients / visitors and how they perceive you at large. For example a recreational zone build for kids inside the hospital has proven to reduce lot of commotion and build a positive brand image.

7. Doctor Communication Doctor communication is about the doctors who practice inside the hospital, their availability at the facility, capability and profile of their specialties. Patients today desire communication about their physicians and healthcare providers that garners respect, trust, alignment and understanding—a truly shared approach to their healthcare needs. It would be really helpful to communicate this information to the patients / visitors to know more about their doctors as well as fixing appointments for next visit and contact information during emergencies.

Statutory communication is the mandatory and regulatory communication which is required as per the norms in any facility according to the guidelines. Some of the statutory communications include fire exits, slope statutory communication to avoid accidents, things to follow when a power failure occurs inside a lift, evacuation plan and so on. It is extremely important to cover all the statutory communications required for the facility to avoid accidents and create an orderly situation during crisis management.

10. External Communication Inadequate communication outside the hospital affects the visibility of the hospital. Effective signages needs to be used outside the building and at the top of the building which are properly lit up so that when in need of an emergency, everyone can easily identify the facility even during late hours. Location plays a vital role in external branding; where you place your signage is very critical. The people who drive by that location will begin to know who you are and what you have to offer and also become your local clientele.

The above convey the most effective and proven ways of using brand communication inside and outside your hospital for desired impact. These are the ways in which an organization can utilize brand communication to expand the boundaries of the brand reach and create a solid understanding of the brand values to all those who are connected to the brand.

About author: Mohammed Ilias is a healthcare branding and marketing strategist successfully running BCC Healthcare - an integrated healthcare branding and marketing agency with presence in India, UAE and Srilanka. He works closely with Hospitals, Celebrity Doctors, Pharma Companies, Labs, Medical Equipment Manufacturers – helping them expand business in India and abroad. He strongly supports ethical branding and cause based marketing. He can be reached at +91 9940553791/ ilias@healthcarebranding.co.in. For more such articles, visit www.healthcarebranding.co.in

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Featured article

mfine appoints Anitha Venkat as Senior Director Bengaluru, July 6, 2018 – mfine, an app-based ondemand healthcare service, announced the appointment of Anitha Venkat as the company’s new Senior Director. In this new role, Anitha will be responsible for building mfine’s hospital and doctor network across India.

the hospitals, mfine is their new center on the cloud bringing in more patients and offering premium services, long-term care programs, super specialties without any upfront investments. mfine was founded in February 2017 by Ashutosh Lawania and Prasad Kompalli.

The company recently raised $4.2 million in Series A funding from Prime Venture Partners, Stellaris Venture Partners and healthcare entrepreneur, Mayur Abhaya.

Supporting Quotes Anitha Venkat, Senior Director, mfine

Anitha Venkat, Senior Director, mfine The company is planning to achieve over 100,000 consultations by the end of 2018 and is looking to build a network of 1000 hospitals over the next 1218 months.

In a career spanning over 25 years, Anitha was a key senior management executive at Lifecell International, the world's largest repository of stem cell units. During her decade long stint at Lifecell, she spearheaded and helped grow the company and managed business in 50 cities across India. Prior to Lifecell, Anitha was a senior management team member in the financial services industry and was responsible for new premium income, renewal business, new customer acquisition, corporate tieups, manpower expansion, retention and overall agency business development. Anitha has a master’s degree in Science from Birla Institute of Technology & Science. mfine follows a unique model of partnering with leading and trusted hospitals instead of aggregating individual doctors on the platform. Hospital partnerships enable mfine to make high quality care of trusted doctors available on a digital channel – for the first time in the country. Top doctors from more than 16 leading and reputed hospitals in Bengaluru such as CloudNine, Aster, and Ovum consult with patients across nine specialties. For

“I am thrilled to join the team at such an exciting time. In a country like India where there is only one doctor for every 1700 people, on-demand healthcare service can bridge the gap in primary healthcare delivery. With mfine’s strong AI-driven approach, doctors and hospitals can cater to many more patients and deliver quality healthcare quickly and effectively. ”

Prasad Kompalli, CEO and cofounder, mfine “We are delighted to welcome Anitha to our team as we strive to strengthen the leadership team. Anitha’s expertise and experience working with hospitals and doctors will help mfine to rapidly expand the hospital network across India. This is a significant step for us as our key focus is to aggregate hospitals and make primary care on-demand and more accessible.”

About mfine mfine is an app-based, on-demand healthcare service that provides its users access to online consultations and care programmes from the country’s top hospitals. The AI-driven digital health platform partners with leading and trusted hospitals instead of aggregating individual doctors. mfine users can consult doctors from their preferred hospitals via chat or video to get prescriptions and/or routine care. mfine was launched in December 2017 by Ashutosh Lawania and Prasad Kompalli. The founders were later joined by Ajit Narayanan, Arjun Chaudhary, and Dr. Jagadish Prasad, an interventional neuroradiologist, and founder of Femiint Health, a hospital in Bengaluru. For more details, please visit: https://www.mfine.co/

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Phenomenex Launches SPE Product to Streamline Urine Drug Testing

Phenomenex Inc, Torrance, Calif, has introduced Strata-X-Drug B Plus, a solid phase extraction(SPE) sample preparation product for urine drug testing in clinical and forensic toxicology labs. The new product features Phenomenex’s solvent shielding technology, which enables enzyme hydrolysis to be carried out directly in the microplate well, reducing transfer steps, time requirements, and cost. The hydrolysis solution can be held for 6 hours or more, providing flexibility in protocol planning.

To meet the throughput demands of high-volume drug testing labs, Strata-X-Drug B Plus is available in a 96-well plate format. The product ensures high recovery, low variation, reduced solvent requirements, and time savings, and its protocol eliminates the conditioning and equilibration steps required for traditional SPE methods. The new sorbent enables the extraction of more than 22 drugs of abuse.

Jenny Cybulski, Phenomenex.

“Drug testing is on the rise, particularly in the face of the opioid crisis, and labs are under pressure to increase throughput and deliver results faster,” says Jenny Cybulski, product marketing manager for Phenomenex. “Urine is a widely used matrix for drug testing, yet it can be challenging to work with. New sample preparation approaches can make a big difference in achieving faster and more accurate results.”

For more information, visit Phenomenex.

Organic Acid Tests Added to Precision Analytical Urine Test

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Featured article Precision Analytical Inc, McMinnville, Ore,has added six organic acid tests (OATs) to its flagship dried urine test for comprehensive hormones (DUTCH) Complete and DUTCH Plus panels. Three of the six OATs build up in the urine when there is a vitamin or nutrient deficiency. Specifically, methylmalonate, pyroglutamate, and xanthurenate elevations serve as markers for vitamin B6, B12, and glutathione deficiencies, respectively.

In addition, three neurotransmitter metabolites are included to give insight into the production of dopamine, epinephrine (adrenaline), and serotonin.

These three neurotransmitter metabolites offer insights into such symptoms as mood disorders and fatigue.

“The organic acid tests included on all DUTCH Complete and DUTCH Plus panels allow for a better, more personalized treatment approach because they offer even more insight into the hormone results,” says Carrie Jones, ND, MPH, medical director at Precision Analytical. “There is significant interdependence between hormones and the OATs added to these panels, and the combination of the two tests together makes for a powerful clinical tool.”

The additional information will give practitioners an even more comprehensive understanding of a patient’s hormone and adrenal picture, especially when it comes to such commonly reported symptoms as anxiety, depression, estrogen dominance, fatigue, insomnia, motivation, sex drive, and stress. Such symptoms may be influenced by dysfunction in the patient’s hormones or organic acids.

For more information, visit Precision Analytical.

Intermountain Healthcare Study to Determine Benefit of Interventions for Reducing Premature Births Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City, has launched the first study of its kind to identify women at risk for premature birth, defined as birth occurring before 37 weeks of gestation, and to evaluate the

effect of early interventions designed to prolong pregnancy and reduce the rate of premature delivery among those identified as high risk.

The Prevent PTB study will enroll up to 10,000 study participants, who will be randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group.

Participants in the experimental group will provide a blood sample for the validated PreTrm test from Sera Prognostics, Salt Lake City, and those found to be at high risk of preterm birth will receive the study’s early, preemptive treatments intended to reduce the number of preterm births and newborn deaths as well as shorten hospital stays for premature babies.

Participants in the control group will undergo normal medical screening to determine their risk of preterm birth. Women who have a history of preterm birth, are under age 18, or are more than 21 weeks pregnant, are not eligible to participate in the study.

Five Intermountain hospitals will recruit pregnant women for the Prevent PTB study: Dixie Regional Medical Center, Intermountain Medical Center, LDS Hospital, McKay-Dee Hospital, and Utah Valley Medical Center. Sera Prognostics is the source of funding for the study.

D. Ware Branch, MD, Intermountain Healthcare.

Previous research involving more than 5,500 participants found that the PreTrm test accurately identifies pregnant women at high risk of preterm birth, even if they have no previous history or other signs of the condition, such as a shortened cervix.

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Featured article “This is the first time we’re able to use a blood test to identify the women at highest risk and start to intervene to prevent the preterm birth,” says D. Ware Branch, MD, medical director of Intermountain Healthcare’s women and newborns clinical program and principal investigator of the study.

“We are pleased to see Intermountain leading clinical research with this important study. The Prevent PTB study is designed to show the benefits of early identification and proactive intervention in reducing preterm birth rates and improving the health of babies,” says Gregory C. Critchfield, MD, chair and CEO of Sera Prognostics. “By identifying more pregnancies where earlier, more proactive intervention is beneficial, society, families and, most importantly newborn infants, have the potential for better outcomes and lower healthcare costs.”

Gregory C. Critchfield, MD, Sera Prognostics.

According to the March of Dimes, preterm birth affects 15 million infants worldwide each year and causes 1 million deaths. Of almost 4 million babies delivered annually in the United States, approximately 11% are preterm; the rate for premature birth in Utah is slightly below the national average. In addition to being the leading cause of newborn death, preterm birth can produce long-term complications for infants who survive, including cerebral palsy, chronic respiratory illness, developmental delays, learning disabilities, seizures, and vision and hearing loss.

Lifelong care for individuals with these conditions can be expensive.

“The biggest challenge we have in trying to treat preterm birth is we don’t know who’s going to have it,” says Sean Esplin, MD, maternal-fetal specialist at Intermountain Medical Center, director of research for women and newborn services at Intermountain Healthcare, and scientific founder of Sera Prognostics. “Out of every 100 pregnant women who come to my office, I know 10 of them will deliver early. But I don’t know which 10 to focus on, except for a few with a previous preterm birth, shortened cervix, or other risk factors. Otherwise, I have to wait until they come in with symptoms, and by then, it’s often too late to stop it.”

Sean Esplin, MD, Intermountain Medical Center.

For this reason, Intermountain Healthcare turned to the PreTrm blood test to assess risk earlier.

Previously published research shows that for blood tested as early as 19 or 20 weeks gestation, PreTrm accurately predicts the chance of preterm birth by measuring and analyzing a pattern of proteins in the blood and focusing on two proteins with high predictive performance.

“Of all the women who are pregnant, our current clinical methods identify fewer than half of those who eventually will give birth before 37 weeks,” says Branch. “We hope to show this test will identify a goodly proportion of the remaining patients to determine whether doing the test can enable interventions that prevent preterm births and/or improve neonatal outcomes among those who are born prematurely.”

For study participants with singleton pregnancies identified as high risk for preterm birth by the PreTrm test but who lack common symptoms, the Prevent PTB study will provide preemptive treatments. Medical interventions used to reduce the likelihood of preterm birth or to lengthen gestation include injected or intravaginal progesterone, which can reduce the risk of preterm birth by 30%; use of a vaginal device to support the cervix, or stitching the cervix closed until late pregnancy; visits to prematurity prevention clinics and weekly nurse contacts to check on expectant mothers’ symptoms; and baby aspirin to reduce inflammation. Treatments for babies born prematurely may include antibiotics, magnesium sulfate to reduce neurological disabilities, and umbilical cord ‘milking’ to push more oxygencarrying red blood cells into premature babies just after delivery.

Study subjects determined not to be at high risk by the PreTrm test and those randomly assigned to the control group will receive normal obstetrical care unless they develop symptoms that require treatment for possible preterm birth at a high-risk obstetrics clinic. The study design is adaptive, with readouts expected to occur at some time between 18 and 24 months.

If the study shows the PreTrm test and early intervention can reduce preterm births, the researchers hope to launch subsequent studies investigating whether this reduction translates to fewer disabilities and lower healthcare expenses for premature babies.

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Featured article “Every day a woman stays pregnant after 24 weeks saves $10,000 in the cost of taking care of the baby,” says Branch. “Each year in the United States, we spend tens of billions of dollars taking care of babies who are born too early. That’s why this study is so important.”

To learn more, visit Intermountain Healthcare and Sera Prognostics.

FDA Clears Lumipulse Procalcitonin Assay

Fujirebio Diagnostics Inc, Malvern, Penn, has received FDA premarket notification (510(k)) clearance of the company’s Lumipulse G Brahms PCT assay for use on the Lumipulse G1200 immunoassay platform. Procalcitonin (PCT) is a biomarker specific to bacterial infections. PCT monitoring is advantageous for guiding antibiotic treatment decisions or assessing the risk of critically ill patients for progression to sepsis or septic shock.

When used in conjunction with other laboratory findings and clinical assessments, the Lumipulse PCT assay can assist with a range of diagnostic and treatment processes, including: Decisionmaking for patients with suspected or confirmed lower respiratory tract infection.

Risk assessment of critically ill patients for progression to severe sepsis or septic shock, on their first day of admission to an intensive care unit (ICU).

Measuring the change in PCT levels over time, to assess the cumulative 28-day risk of all-cause mortality for patients diagnosed with severe sepsis or septic shock in the ICU, or obtained in the emergency department or other hospital setting prior to ICU admission.

Decisionmaking for patients with suspected or confirmed sepsis.

Matthew Bell, Fujirebio.

According to company information, the Lumipulse PCT assay is a precise test, with a CV of ≤4.7%.

With such an assay, clinicians can more accurately determine changes in PCT levels, indicating the effectiveness of antibiotics, and thereby make moreinformed decisions about the initiation or discontinuation of antibiotic therapy. By removing the analytical variability of test results when monitoring antibiotic therapy, the Lumipulse PCT assay helps clinicians conform to the new guidelines for antibiotic stewardship released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

“Serial measurement of procalcitonin levels is a significant innovation for antibiotic stewardship, which can lead to reduced hospitalization stays without adversely affecting patient outcomes,” says Matthew Bell, vice president of sales and marketing at Fujirebio. “The Lumipulse G Brahms PCT assay is a significant new tool in the fight against sepsis, lowering hospital readmission rates, and improving the use of antibiotic treatment.”

To learn more, visit Fujirebio.

Siemens Healthineers Inks Comarketing Agreement with Welch Allyn

Siemens Healthineers, Norwood, Mass, has signed an exclusive Comarketing agreement with Welch Allyn, Skaneateles Falls, NY, to offer a comprehensive point-of-care product portfolio for diabetes management.

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will combine product offerings to market a suite of point-of-care diagnostic instruments for diabetes care. The instruments are intended to enable primary healthcare providers in the United States to bridge gaps in diabetes care and satisfy value-based quality measures in a single office visit.

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Featured article To assess provider performance and evaluate whether healthcare providers are taking steps to improve patient outcomes, more than 90% of US payors currently use such value-based quality measures as the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) developed by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, or the MeritBased Incentive Payment System implemented by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Providing comprehensive care for diabetes is an essential performance criterion within these quality measures. Consequently, healthcare providers are now placing increasing emphasis on offering patientcentered diabetes care solutions that lead to better health outcomes at the point of care.

The agreement between Siemens and Welch Allyn will enable the partners to promote a single complete solution to physician offices seeking to satisfy essential comprehensive diabetes management measures.

The suite of products includes two instruments from Siemens: the Clinitek Status Plus urine chemistry analyzer for albumin:creatine ratio testing, and the DCA Vantage analyzer for HbA1c testing. The suite also includes Welch Allyn’s RetinaVue network for in-office diabetic retinal exams, which uses HIPAAcompliant software to transmit point-of-care images to a team of board-certified ophthalmologists for interpretation.

The Siemens point-of-care portfolio consists of easyto-use solutions and tests that aid in combating chronic diseases and conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, kidney disease, and stroke. With the addition of the Welch Allyn RetinaVue network, the suite of products will enable physicians to meet HEDIS quality measures for diabetes care in a single patient visit, improving both patient satisfaction and compliance.

To learn more, visit Siemens Healthineers and Welch Allyn.

Angle plc, Guildford, UK, a liquid biopsy company, recently announced progress with patient enrollment for the clinical study of its platform for the detection of metastatic breast cancer. Angle currently offers one of only three FDA-cleared liquid biopsy solutions, and seeks to become the first company to receive FDA clearance for a platform that captures and harvests intact circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from patient blood for subsequent analysis.

To date, more than 80 subjects have been enrolled out of a required 400 subjects for the study, which will include 200 patients with metastatic breast cancer and 200 healthy controls. Four US cancer centers are actively recruiting patients for the clinical study; two centers began enrollment in April, while an additional two centers opened enrollment at the end of May.

Angle Announces Enrollment Progress in Metastatic Breast Cancer Study

While subject enrollment is under the management of the independent cancer centers and outside the company’s direct control, the reported progress suggests that both the clinical study and associated analytical studies will be completed as planned during the second half of 2018.

“We are pleased to announce that patient enrollment to date for our FDA study has been encouraging, and we now have four leading US cancer centers actively recruiting subjects for the study,” says Andrew Newland, founder and chief executive at Angle. “We continue to believe there is a tremendous opportunity for Angle to secure the first-ever FDA clearance for a platform that captures and harvests intact circulating tumor cells from patient blood for subsequent analysis. This would be a key step in establishing the Parsortix system as the system of choice for CTC liquid biopsy, securing a leading position in the emerging multibillion dollar liquid biopsy market.”

To learn more, visit Angle.

Andrew Newland, Angle.

The study is blinded, and results will not be known until the completion of the trial. The primary endpoint of the study will be the cytological evaluation of harvested cells by a qualified pathologist to confirm that the harvested CTCs derive from patients with metastatic breast cancer and not from healthy volunteers. Exploratory endpoints include the evaluation of harvested cells with downstream analysis, including quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and whole-transcriptome sequencing.

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Featured article

Qiagen Showcases Next-Generation Sequencing Solutions for Precision Medicine

Qiagen, Hilden, Germany, has announced a partnership with artificial intelligence genomics company, Freenome, San Francisco, to accelerate the development and commercialization of nextgeneration sequencing (NGS) tests and advance precision medicine in cancer treatment.

The alliance is one of several initiatives that Qiagen hopes will expand the reach of its NGS tests in line with the recent modernization of FDA’s regulatory approach.

Qiagen discussed its partnership with Freenome and showcased its portfolio of sample-to-insight solutions for cancer at the recent annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

“Qiagen is helping to drive the exciting progress in applying a broad range of molecular testing technologies, including NGS, to deliver personalized genomic insights for decisionmaking in cancer treatment,” says Peer M. Schatz, CEO of Qiagen.

Featured article “We are intensifying our efforts for development, regulatory review, and launch of precision diagnostic tests because we share the vision of making improvements in life possible for patients with cancer.”

To learn more, visit Qiagen.

Synergy LX Multimode Microplate Reader

Gen5 software. Synergy LX is suited for most laboratory budgets and is modular in design, allowing laboratories to add modules as needed.

To learn more, visit BioTek Instruments.

Introducing Rossmax X5 – Digital Blood pressure monitor with Pulse Arrityymia technology.

Prevent the risk of cardio disease and stroke by early detection of atrial fibrillation, premature contraction, tachycardia and bradycardia. Cardiac disorders need medical attention and thus early diagnosis is of paramount importance. The PARR technology detects arrythmia during regular blood pressure checks without any additional user skills, user interaction and measurement prolongation.

BioTek Instruments, Winooski, Vt, has introduced the affordable, user-friendly Synergy LX multimode microplate reader to automate most common microplate-based assays. The unit’s unique dualoptics design enables absorbance, fluorescence, and luminescence measurements without compromising performance or budget.

Gary Barush, BioTek Instruments.

“There are many multimode microplate readers on the market, but Synergy LX was designed specifically for the most common endpoint applications, such as nucleic acid and protein quantification, ELISAs, and cell-viability assays, with an interface that is simple to navigate,” says Gary Barush, global director of marketing and sales at BioTek. The reader’s 200–999 nm range encompasses a broad range of UV-Vis absorbance assays, including 2 µL measurements when used with the Take3 microvolume plate. Filter and dichroic cubes easily exchange to enable multiple applications in fluorescence intensity and luminescence. The reader’s large touchscreen allows easy operation and immediate data display. With a single touch, data can be output to a USB flash drive for further analysis in

Afib: The upper chambers of the heart (the atria) beat irregular (quiver) and mostly fast instead of beating effectively to move blood into the ventricles.

This condition is associated with a higher risk for cardiac blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications. About 10 % - 20 % of patients who suffer from an ischemic stroke also suffer from atrial fibrillation. Extra, abnormal heartbeats generated in abnormal locations of your heart, either in the atria (PAC) or in the ventricles (PVC) or the cardiac conduction nodes (PNC). These extra beats disrupt your regular heart rhythm, sometimes causing palpitations (e.g. skipped beats) in your chest.

It may occur singularly or repetitively with various incidence. If not stress-related, they are a sensitive marker for a multitude of cardiac disorders, elevated ischemic stroke risk with PC. Fast heart rate of more than 100 beats per minute (BPM) in adults.

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Featured article Unless being caused by physical or mental stress, indicator for cardiac and extra-cardiac disorders (e.g. coronary heart disease, hyperthyroidism, fever). Slow heart rate, heart rate of less than 55 beats per minute in adults. Unless caused by endurance training heart adaption, bradycardia may be related to a multitude of cardiac and extra cardiac disorders (e.g. electrolyte imbalance, medication, coronary and / or valvular heart disease).

About Rossmax: Since 1988, Rossmax is committed to strive for the best technologies in each business field. Providing value for the customer’s specific need is the key driver in inventing patented solutions.

Rossmax does not compromise in fulfilling the highest quality standards and proofing the results through outstanding clinical validations.

For more information: https://www.rossmax.com/en/

Today by our strong marketing and distribution network we have become a leading diagnostic company of the India, having multiple diagnostic products developed by R&D for the detection of Pregnancy, Ovulation, Syphilis, Malaria, Typhoid, Dengue, Troponin-I, Kala azar, HIV, HCV and HBs Ag etc. The ELISA kits for HIV, HCV and HBs Ag have been developed and validated for the desired sensitivity and specificity. Recently DCGI and Delhi State Drugs Controlling authority has granted permission for the manufacturing of ELISA kits of HIV, HCV and HBs Ag. Meanwhile Oscar Medicare is also planning to go into manufacturing of the clinical biochemistry kits, haematology analyser and CLIA kits.

Leading manufacturer of in-vitro diagnostic product of Healthcare Oscar Medicare Pvt Ltd had became a leading name in the in-vitro diagnostic products, our most of the products are CE registered with ISO 13485. The company started their operations in 2011 focusing on the healthcare sector with anattention on developing and manufacturing comprehensive range of in-vitro diagnostic products.

Our products are manufactured in its state-of-the art GMP certified production facilities which is well equipped to undertake contract manufacturing / OEM services as well.

Currently we have expanded our business on a global level and also participating in the Government tenders and manufacturing on OEM/Third party due to their good quality of the product, competitive price and greatest services.

The Oscar Medicare Pvt. Ltd. is one of the largest manufacturers of pregnancy detection tests and has manufacturing capacity and capability to produce more than 5 lac tests per day. Presently we are manufacturing Pregnancy detection tests for various leading pharmaceutical corporates of India and abroad.

Company is rapidly expanding its business in domestic and well as in export market due to quality of the products, competitive prices and best services.

For more information: http://oscarmedcare.com/

RNI NUMBER: UPENG/2017/73675