Reagents for Six HCV Genotypes

New hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotyping reagents are designed to enable clinical laboratories to develop assays that identify all six genotypes of HCV, a major predictor of disease progression and response to HCV treatment.

These new agents are from Third Wave Technologies, Inc. (Madison, WI, USA) and are based on the company's proprietary Invader technology platform. Viral pathogens such as HCV have a number of specific genetic variations, or genotypes. While all of these strains are grouped into the larger HCV category, the identification of the specific geneotype of a virus is essential to maximizing treatment and disease management. Once the correct genetic makeup of the virus is identified, an appropriate therapeutic course of action can be specifically tailored.

Third Wave's reagents incorporate all of the performance benefits associated with the Invader technology platform. Use of the Invader platform in manual assay setups provides results faster than other commercially available technologies, but more importantly, the high-throughput and ease-of-use advantages of the company's proprietary Invader platform enable laboratories to automate the HCV genotyping process easily, reducing hands-on time while decreasing the time to result.

"This product provides us with a superior molecular solution for entry into an additional market segment,” noted John Puisis, president and CEO of Third Wave. "As we continue to accelerate high-value products from pipeline to market, we are further establishing our position in the molecular diagnostic industry.”

Scientists from the Cleveland Clinic (OH, USA) and the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN, USA) presented data from separate collaborative studies on Third Wave's Invader HCV genotyping reagents at the 20th Annual Clinical Virology Symposium in Clearwater Beach (FL, USA) in April 2004.





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