Beckman Coulter is introducing a new antipsychotic drug test to laboratories and clinicians to address an unmet clinical need for 69 million people with serious mental illness conditions worldwide.
In a new agreement with Saladax Biomedical, Beckman Coulter will distribute the tests designed to measure blood levels of antipsychotic drugs prescribed to treat patients with serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. These new assays are developed using an innovative nanoparticle technology and empower health care professionals with data to monitor psychiatric drugs prescribed in treatment of psychosis: Clozapine, Risperidone/Paliperidone, Olanzapine, Quetiapine, Aripiprazole.
The rapid, high-quality assays run on Beckman Coulter’s scalable AU clinical chemistry analyzers and shorten turnaround time for patient test results to hours instead of days.
Impact of Mental Illness Worldwide
Serious mental illness is a significant public health concern. Worldwide 45 million1 people are affected by bipolar disorder and 24 million2 people are living with schizophrenia. Patients with untreated schizophrenia or bipolar may experience increased intensity of symptoms which could be disabling, potentially resulting in additional medical care or could lead to suicide.3,4 These new assays assist healthcare professionals evaluate patient treatment adherence and individual patient drug response.
“Beckman Coulter’s portfolio of therapeutic drug monitoring assays offers laboratories and diagnostic testing facilities ways to improve patient care by ensuring therapeutic ranges are monitored. Our relationship with Saladax expands access for laboratories and clinicians to antipsychotic drug testing for treatment of psychotic disorders, which is a growing healthcare need,” says Kathleen Orland, senior vice president & general manager, clinical chemistry and immunoassay, Beckman Coulter.
Assays are being introduced across Europe and the United States, with plans to expand to Beckman Coulter customers globally.
“Our partnership with Beckman Coulter is a major step in making these important antipsychotic tests available to health care professionals. These tests provide timely quantitative insights so they can make reliable assessments that will improve the care of patients with serious mental illness,” says Sal Salamone, CEO and Founder, Saladax.
For more information about Beckman Coulter’s Antipsychotic Drug Testing visit www.beckmancoulter.com/antipsychotic.
References
- GBD 2017 Disease and Injury Incidence and Prevalence Collaborators. (2018). Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. The Lancet. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32279-7)
- https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/schizophrenia
- https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia
- https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/bipolar-disorder#part_2264
