One Lambda Inc, Canoga Park, Calif, a producer of medical diagnostic products, and Stratec Biomedical Systems AG, Germany, a designer and manufacturer of automated systems for clinical diagnostics and biotech, will partner in a supply and development agreement for an automated sample preparation system called LabXpress.
The system automates One Lambda’s LabScreen and LabType assays and addresses the need for high throughput screening of blood samples by blood banks concerned about the presence of antibodies directed towards human leukocyte antigens (HLA) and human neutrophil antigens (HNA) in blood products.
Research suggests HLA and HNA antibodies may be contributing factors in transfusion-related acute lung injury, and the tests may help blood centers further investigate their role.
High-volume solid organ and bone marrow transplant centers may find the systems’ hands-free capabilities useful. HLA lab personnel can load samples and LabType or LabScreen reagents and walk away as samples are processed for HLA typing and antibody screening.
When sample processing is complete, the system automatically transfers samples to the fully integrated LabScan100 flow analyzer utilizing Luminex xMAP technology. The acquired data is analyzed with the company’s HLA Fusion software.