BBI Solutions, Cardiff, UK, has launched an antigen for detecting procalcitonin (PCT), a marker for early sepsis diagnosis and the management of bacterial infections. While PCT blood levels in healthy patients are very low, they can increase within 3 to 6 hours of systemic infections or inflammation caused by bacterial infections. The half-life of PCT is approximately 24 hours, making it an ideal marker for early sepsis diagnosis. The antigen can be used to monitor the progression of the disease and the effectiveness of treatment. PCT is also useful to physicians, as it enables specific differentiation between bacterial infections and other causes of inflammation that do not produce an increase in PCT. For more information, visit BBI.