From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, this is the Real Economy Report.

Sashnee Moodley:

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, this is the Real Economy Report.

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. Darren Parker tells us more.

Darren Parker:

Roche unveiled its new compact molecular diagnostics system – the Cobas 5800 – on May 31 in Johannesburg.

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.

Roche Diagnostics Southern Africa interim GM Alan Yates:

Darren Parker:

The Cobas 5800 will enable smaller, localised laboratories to diagnose a variety of medical conditions quickly and without having to send samples away to a central laboratory every time.

The Cobas 5800 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.

Roche Diagnostics Southern Africa interim GM Alan Yates:

Darren Parker:

The compact, fully automated molecular diagnostics system will help address the high demands on laboratories for swift diagnoses, which has increased significantly since the outbreak of Covid-19.

The greater efficiency, optimised work flows and cost savings will 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 Southern Africa interim GM Alan Yates:

Darren Parker:

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

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.

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

Sashnee Moodley:

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