RECENT NEWS

Thousands more people in Northern Ireland will be invited for potentially life-saving bowel cancer screening after Health Minister Robbie Butler announced a major expansion of the regional screening programme.

PACE (Pathways to Antimicrobial Clinical Efficacy) and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have released five new contemporary antimicrobial resistance strain panels, giving innovators worldwide a resource to test novel therapeutics and diagnostics against today’s resistance patterns.

The UK government has launched The Dementia Challenge to accelerate the adoption of innovative technologies and practices that will diagnose and predict how the disease will progress, backed by £80 million of funding.

SYNLAB UK and Ireland officially launched its newest NHS pathology service on 1 October, SYNLAB Essex.

Scientists from UKHSA, the University of Oxford and a collaboration of academic institutions have used bacterial genome sequencing to understand why the meningococcal disease outbreak in Kent in Spring 2026 was so severe.

The NHS has launched a world-first trial of a rapid genomic test for the diagnosis of brain tumours. Available across specialist centres in England, it will mean patients receive a definitive brain tumour diagnosis in days rather than weeks.

An academic and industrial partnership has investigated the antimicrobial activity of two types of disinfectant, finding they are more effective when used together.

The latest annual review of the joint NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) Epidemiology Unit has been published by NHSBT.

Revvity has launched its new GSP T1D 3plex kit, a fully automated, CE-IVDR-certified, multiplex autoantibody (AAb) detection solution to enable population-wide screening programmes that identify children at risk of developing type 1 diabetes before symptoms appear.

OGT, a global provider of genomic research and diagnostic solutions has unveiled next-generation sequencing (NGS) automation capabilities across its SureSeq NGS portfolio, compatible with the Hamilton NGS STAR Line.

R-Biopharm Rhône is about to celebrate 40 years of innovation, manufacture and export achievement after beginning its journey into the commercial world as a university spin-out.

In vitro diagnostics firm bioMérieux has announced the launch of SPINCHIP, an innovative point-of-care platform, featuring its first test for the measurement of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I from a single drop of blood.

Eppendorf has expanded its centrifuge portfolio with the launch of the new SpinPro 8 R, a refrigerated, floor-standing high-speed centrifuge designed for demanding high-volume workflows.

Leica Biosystems has added two Paige digital pathology AI-enabled products from Tempus to its growing Aperio AI Store - a unified, interoperable digital pathology platform that provides multiple AI-powered applications in a single interface.

Irish laboratory supplier Cruinn Diagnostics has announced the acquisition of Katalyst Diagnostics, a UK-based point-of-care diagnostics business serving NHS and clinical customers across mental health, oncology, paediatrics and other specialist care settings.

Nearly one in three patients found to have antibodies against the bacterium that causes Lyme disease also had antibodies against one or more additional tick-borne pathogens, according to a new US study.

Circular Genomics' blood-based circular RNA (circRNA) biomarker platform is to be combined with Altoida's AI-powered Digital NeuroMarker platform, in a new collaboration designed to advance an integrated biology-and-function approach to diagnosing and treating Alzheimer's disease.

People with cancer will benefit from stronger national leadership to improve diagnosis, treatment and care, thanks to a reformed National Cancer Board, which met for the first time very recently.

Researchers have developed a new method that uses real-world evidence from the NHS Man Van pilot – a community cancer testing service - to identify and specify the requirements needed for new diagnostic pathways to work safely and effectively in practice.

A new study has found that erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) samples measured by photometric rheology on innovative new analysers remained accurate for up to 28 hours at room temperature and 48 hours refrigerated, seven times longer than the traditional Westergren method's four-hour room-temperature limit.