The Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Mycophenolic Acid assay (MPAT) is now available for use on the company’s portfolio of Dimension Integrated Chemistry Systems in the US. With this addition, the company becomes the first laboratory diagnostics solutions provider in the nation to offer the consolidation of four fully automated immunosuppressant drug (ISD) assays on a single integrated chemistry system. The four ISD tests—mycophenolic acid, cyclosporine, tacrolimus, and sirolimus—are the most commonly prescribed immunosuppressants used by physicians to prevent organ rejection. Now, they can be run simultaneously with routine chemistry tests on the Dimension systems, enabling more comprehensive care for transplant patients.
More and more transplant patients are being treated with multi-drug regimens that include mycophenolic acid (MPA), and studies suggest that therapeutic drug monitoring of MPA levels is helpful in patient management. Therefore, having the ability to efficiently monitor any combination of MPA, cyclosporine, tacrolimus, and sirolimus therapy on one integrated instrument can help to ensure patients receive the optimal balance of therapy. This may not only save the transplanted organ, but also the life of the patient.
Furthermore, because manual sample pretreatment steps are not required for any ISD tests performed on the Dimension systems, including the new MPAT assay, clinical laboratories can be more efficient and reduce the potential for errors that may be caused by extensive handling of patient samples. Laboratories also save time by performing ISD tests alongside other routine chemistry tests, all on one integrated instrument.
Source: Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics