Pharmaceuticals and medical diagnostics technology company Roche has unveiled its new compact molecular diagnostics system, which is geared towards improving access to medical diagnostics capabilities across Africa and elsewhere around the world.

The Cobas 5800 is the newest addition to the Roche Molecular Work Area, which already features the larger Cobas 6800 and Cobas 8800 models.

These bigger models were designed to be installed in large-scale centralised laboratories to facilitate high throughput.

The Cobas 5800, however, is a much more compact and less capital intensive embodiment of the same molecular diagnostics technological capability.

This will enable smaller, localised laboratories to have the ability to diagnose a variety of medical conditions quickly and without having to send samples away to a central laboratory every time.

This is aimed at improving access to molecular diagnostics in areas where sending samples for testing might be expensive and complicated, resulting in delays and backlogs.

It will also reduce the significant expenditure on the transport and storage of samples to be tested, while ensuring that patients can be diagnosed and treated more swiftly.

“The Cobas 5800 is a potential gateway to access where it is needed the most. Patients in Africa face barriers to access throughout their healthcare journey.

“Among the most pressing barriers are awareness, diagnostics, funding and healthcare capacity,” Roche Diagnostics Southern Africa interim GM Alan Yates said at the product’s South African launch, in Midrand, on May 31.

He added that the compact, fully automated molecular diagnostics system would help address the high demands on laboratories for swift diagnoses, which had increased significantly since the outbreak of Covid-19.

Yates said the greater efficiency, optimised work flows and cost savings would result in better enabling local medical services to deliver quality patient care timeously.

The Cobas 5800 can deliver up to 528 results in 24 hours, while offering a broad menu of more than 25 different assays, with up to 15 assays on board at all times.

It is capable of processing up to six assays in a single run, while samples and assays can be prioritised as needed, Roche Diagnostics HIV global access programme product manager John Abwao explained.

The assay menu includes options for donor screening, infectious diseases, sexual health, transplant health, respiratory diseases and antimicrobial stewardship.

He said it would be particularly useful for meeting the high demand for Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction tests in a more cost-effective and efficient manner than before.

Some other medical conditions that can be detected and diagnosed with the Cobas 5800 include the human papillomavirus, human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis, besides others.

As much as 90% of routine testing can be consolidated on the Cobas 5800, which allows for in vitro diagnostics and laboratory developed tests to be run simultaneously using the Cobas omni utility channel feature.

The Cobas 5800 can be integrated into existing information technology infrastructure and is fully automated to limit hands-on time and improve staff productivity. This will also reduce the incidence of manual errors and increase the predictability of results, while generating laboratory-specific insights to drive efficiency and productivity, Abwao said.

The device also includes pre-analytical automation for greater simplicity of the entire workflow.