BD puts focus on high-throughput molecular testing for infectious diseases

BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) has expanded the BD COR System to include a new MX instrument for high-throughput molecular testing for infectious diseases. The new instrument and its first test for sexually transmitted infections have been CE marked to the IVD directive 98/79/EC. The new MX instrument is the final piece of the BD COR System, which also includes a PX instrument that can prepare diagnostic samples by automating appropriate pre-analytical processing steps and a GX instrument that can leverage the BD Onclarity HPV Assay with extended genotyping to screen for HPV infections. The MX instrument is built off the proven BD MAX System molecular PCR (polymerase chain reaction) technology platform, a medium-throughput system typically found in hospital labs, and BD intends to leverage the BD MAX System menu of infectious disease tests to create assays that can be performed in high-throughput central reference labs on the BD COR System. The first test available on the MX instrument is the BD CTGCTV2 for BD COR System, which is designed to use a single test to detect the three most prevalent non-viral sexually transmitted infections — Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC) and Trichomonas vaginalis (TV).