RECENT NEWS

A leading healthcare technology company is putting in place an acquisition strategy after revealing it is on course to more than double turnover this year. MSoft eSolutions will increase revenues from £1 million to over £2.2 million in the current financial year.

Eppendorf recently celebrated the opening of its new UK headquarters in Stevenage with 60 guests from all walks of science and industry. Guest of honour Dr Dirk Ehlers, the company’s president and CEO, performed the official opening of Eppendorf House, a high-grade, energy-efficient facility on the Arlington Business Park.

Recently, the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust celebrated a key milestone for its new pathology building with a traditional ‘roof topping’ ceremony.

The Dittmer Laboratory at the University of North Carolina is using a Freedom EVO 150 with an integrated LightCycler 480 real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system to investigate the biology of viral cancers such as those caused by Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpes virus (KSHV). The group uses quantitative PCR (qPCR) profiling to study various aspects of KSHV.

Barnsley Hospital has recently installed Radiometer’s AQT90 FLEX analyser in its emergency department, where it is proving the key to rapid assessment of patients presenting with chest pain.

The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) has found that educational programmes concentrating on correct blood culture technique, supported by bioMérieux, play a key role in reducing contamination rates.

Bibby Scientific US has appointed Peter Lucas as president for the Western hemisphere. Peter joins the company from Sartorius, where he was North American director of marketing – laboratory solutions, and previously worked for Merck KGaA Millipore. He holds an MBA from DeSales University and brings extensive senior management experience and a proven track record of success in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors.

An advanced process review system, TACTROL ZERO, is being rolled out across the entire range of autoclaves manufactured by Priorclave, and adds to the excellent customer support provided by the company’s service and technical support team. The new system enables Priorclave to provide increased worldwide support, ensuring that autoclave users maximise the performance of their steam sterilizers, whatever and wherever the application and medium.

As the NHS Cervical Screening Programme (NHSCSP) rolls out high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) testing for the triage of women with borderline or low-grade cervical abnormalities across England, women around the country are already benefiting from faster treatment and potentially life-saving outcomes thanks to the Roche cobas HPV test.

Mast is again delighted to be exhibiting at Microbe 2012 at the Hilton Hotel, Sheffield 21st – 23rd September 2012.

At Microbe 2012, R-Biopharm Rhône will take on the guise of modern Stone Age family The Flintstones. The company has always found the Microbe symposia to be a terrific mix of scientific talks and social activities, with the addition, this year, of poster presentations.

Worldwide experts share their knowledge –Register now

The microbiology department at St James’s Hospital in Dublin processes almost 500,000 samples a year, and has recently introduced a PREVI Isola and a UF-1000i to semi­automate its urinalysis services.

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has opened a new automated blood sciences laboratory at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. Equipped with state-of-the-art Roche analytical platforms and track system, the new laboratory ensures a very efficient workflow and will reduce turnaround times (TATs) for routine high-throughput work.

A multimillion-pound science ‘superlab’ is nearing completion at Nottingham Trent University. Work on the building, sited on the Clifton campus, is almost finished and it will house high-specification laboratories and equipment in support of chemistry and bioscience teaching and research activities in the university’s School of Science and Technology.

At the start of its new financial year, UK autoclave manufacturer Priorclave launched its Jubilee promotion that will run for a four-month period, from April to July. Throughout this period, Priorclave will present a Kindle against all confirmed orders. Not only is it a ‘thank you’ for buying products design and manufactured totally in the UK, it is also part of a promotion in the run-up to the company celebrating 25 years as an autoclave manufacturer.

With an estimated 216,000 individuals chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the UK (England 161,000, Northern Ireland 4000, Scotland 39,000, Wales 12,000), it remains a major public health problem; and HCV-related end-stage liver disease and mortality continue to increase. The Health Protection Agency states that it is necessary to sustain and enhance efforts to raise awareness, prevent new infections, increase diagnosis, and treat more individuals with the infection.

Unlike anything else, Optimall from Roche delivers a holistic approach to Pathology services bringing together clinical, operational, financial and strategic benefits. The product of 10 years’ experience, Optimall is so much more than the provision of industry-leading diagnostic platforms. It is a strategic partnership designed to meet the specific needs of individual laboratories, large or small, that delivers an efficient, high quality end-to-end pathology service.
Roche has been at the forefront of innovative managed laboratory services for a decade and, with over 100 Roche managed solutions installed across the UK and Ireland, no one is better placed to understand your needs and the challenges you face. When you choose Optimall, the expertise and resources of Roche are available to support you in achieving operational excellence.

Focus on Serology 11th June 2012

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Focus On Efficiencies 12th June 2012

Roche is pleased to offer you a place, subject to availability, at its forthcoming educational days to be held in Central London on 11th and 12th June. Preliminary agendas for these important events are shown below.

Reserve your place now.
Email your name, position, address and telephone details to: [email protected] together with details of which day(s) you would like to attend. You will then receive a password for online registration. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis, so act now! We will confirm your place by email and provide full details for these whole day events.

In January 2012 a new state-of-the-art laboratory opened in the grounds of the Victoria Hospital, NHS Fife. The building is known as the ‘South Laboratory Block’ and houses the haematology, blood transfusion and clinical biochemistry departments.