US-based diagnostic testing solutions provider Quidel has gained CE Mark for its Quidel Molecular Direct HSV 1+2/VZV assay for the differentiation and detection of herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2 (HSV 1+2) and varicella-zoster virus (VZV) in active lesions.
The Quidel Molecular Direct HSV 1+2/VZV assay kit includes an extraction-free, three-step sample preparation process, which doesn't requires heating, timing and centrifugation.
The fast and easy direct-to-amplification procedure allows to use by molecular diagnostic laboratories with their existing thermocyclers to generate a result in under an hour.
Quidel's kit differentiates between three infectious diseases: HSV 1, the virus responsible for most cold sores and some genital herpes transmissions; HSV 2, the virus primarily responsible for most genital herpes and some cold sores; and VZV, the virus responsible for chicken-pox in children and shingles among adults.
The Quidel Molecular Direct HSV 1+2/VZV assay is part of company's expanding line of molecular diagnostics products.
The reagents in the kit provide attractive features such as refrigerated storage instead of freezing, ready-to-use reagents, a short time to result, and other benefits that favorably affect diagnostic test outcome.
Quidel president and chief executive officer Douglas Bryant said the company is happy to receive the CE Mark for its fifth Quidel Molecular assay.
"Our Quidel Molecular Direct HSV 1+2/VZV assay allows us to offer a molecular complement to our best-selling ELVIS cell-based assay for herpes detection. Hospital workers will now have the ability to quickly diagnose similar herpes diseases in children and adults through the characterization of samples obtained from lesions," Bryant added.
