Roche cobas® 8000 modular analyser series

Roche Diagnostics in the UK announced today the launch of the cobas 8000®. This "hi-spec" instrument fills the gap in the UK for large scale, high speed In-Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) testing. The ability to do large-scale testing is increasingly important if the UK is to realise the model for pathology services focused on service consolidation as set out by Lord Carter in his paper "The Independent Review of NHS Pathology Services¹ and also supported by Lord Darzi in his NHS review paper².

For makers Roche Diagnostics, the cobas 8000 modular analyser³ series is the newest member of the Roche cobas modular platform family combining both clinical chemistry and immunochemistry testing. It is designed to enable high volume laboratories to deliver highly reliable results with outstanding workflow and cost efficiency. Tests run on the new platform provide the physician with important clinical information in a wide range of medical areas such as infectious and cardiac disease, bone disorders and cancer. It also includes a range of novel biomarkers for maternal care and rheumatoid arthritis.

This newest addition to the cobas family of integrated analysers will allow extremely fast and efficient testing procedures and will significantly reduce sample turn-around. "At Roche we are committed to creating true medical value through delivering leading edge diagnostic tests and technologies, said Ian Parfrement, Director of Hospital IVD at Roche. "The cobas 8000 modular analyser series is a landmark technology which is uniquely designed to address the needs of high volume laboratories."

With the addition of the cobas 8000 modular analyser series, Roche now offers a totally comprehensive portfolio of standardised integrated systems to meet the needs of all types and sizes of clinical laboratories - from the smallest analysers - the desktop cobas c111 and the stand alone cobas 4000 systems analyser series for small volume laboratories, to the cobas 6000 analyser series for medium volume and then ultimately to cobas 8000 modular analyser series for high throughput laboratories.

"The NHS demands greater flexibility for pathology testing to meet the overall aim of delivering improved patient care whilst responding to financial pressures", continued Parfrement. With the introduction of the cobas 8000 as part of the overall Roche modular analyser series, healthcare professionals are able to get the same consistent and highly accurate results no matter the testing environment. Indeed, we can offer 100% concordance of sample results whether testing is done on one of our smallest standalone instruments on a bench in a GP surgery through to a high through-put laboratory. The "scaleability" of what we are offering at Roche is wholly unique and is in keeping with the hub and spoke concept described by Lord Carter and Lord Darzi which envisages for example, initial results being performed at a hub and subsequent tests being performed at a satellite branch based in the community," concluded Parfrement.

The first configuration of cobas 8000 modular analyzer series to be launched is the high speed clinical chemistry cobas c 701 module with up to 2000 tests per hour. In the coming months additional clinical chemistry and immunoassay modules will be rolled out resulting in more than 38 scalable solutions which can be tailored to suit laboratories' current and future needs.

About cobas 8000 modular analyzer series
With a peak throughput of up to 8,400 tests per hour and a total of 270 reagents on board, the cobas 8000 modular analyser series merges the latest serum work area technology with new process innovations.
It incorporates many innovative design elements such as the Module Sample Buffers and independent transport and processing lines for improved sample management. The convenient clinical chemistry reagent cassette with ready to-use reagents provide long on-board stability and varying cassette sizes optimised for workflow and cost management. In addition, the cobas 8000 modular analyser series includes a package of electronic services and connectivity to all pre-analytical units from Roche further enhancing automation.
More information regarding the cobas 8000 modular analyser series capabilities and configurations can be found at www.roche.com.

About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world's largest biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche's personalised healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. In 2008, Roche had over 80'000 employees worldwide and invested almost 9 billion Swiss francs in R&D. The Group posted sales of 45.6 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche.com.
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Notes to the Editor:
^1. Carter: "Report of the Second Phase of the Review of NHS Pathology Services in England; Chaired by Lord Carter of Coles." 2008, (An Independent Review for the Department of Health)
^2. Darzi "High Quality Care for All: NHS Next Stage Review Final Report." Department of Health, June 2008.
^3. The cobas 8000 modular analyser series is not available for use in the United States