Roche Introduces Immunoassay Module for cobas® 8000 Modular Analyzer Series In U.S.

INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced today the U.S. introduction of the cobas e 602 analyzer, the latest addition to the cobas® 8000 modular analyzer series for diagnostic labs with high-volume workloads. Labs will now be able to combine this new immunoassay module with two existing clinical chemistry modules to create an integrated platform with 24 unique system configurations to match their specific testing needs.

"The cobas e 602 module completes our consolidated platform solution for high-volume labs by enabling them to seamlessly integrate clinical chemistry and immunoassay testing on one system," said Randy Pritchard, vice president, marketing of Roche Diagnostics Corporation. "The modular design gives them the freedom to design a system that meets their needs now and easily add individual modules as their testing needs change in the future."

The cobas e 602 module uses Roche's patented electrochemiluminescence (ECL) technology and includes more than 50 assays on its initial test menu. It offers a throughput of up to 170 immunoassay tests per hour and when combined with the existing clinical chemistry modules (cobas c 701 module / cobas c 502 module), 10 unique configurations are available, which offer a throughput of 3,670 to 7,970 tests per hour.  The cobas e 602 module is also available in 4 immunoassay only configurations, which offer a throughput of 170 to 680 tests per hour.

About the cobas 8000 modular analyzer series

The cobas 8000 series is the newest member of the Roche cobas modular platform family, combining both clinical chemistry and immunochemistry testing, and completes the Roche cobas portfolio for laboratories with low, medium and high testing volumes. The cobas 8000 series is designed to meet the needs of high-volume laboratories to deliver high quality results fast and efficiently from a single patient sample. It features intelligent sample routing with fast transportation and return lines, independent processing lines within each module, and a module sample buffer in each module for true random-access sampling. The series also uses the same operator interface and the standardized reagent cassette concept used on other cobas analyzer platforms. Tests run on the new platform give physicians important clinical information in a wide range of medical areas, such as cardiac and infectious diseases, bone disorders and cancer.

About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world's largest biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche's personalized healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. In 2009, Roche had over 80,000 employees worldwide and invested almost 10 billion Swiss francs in R&D. The Group posted sales of 49.1 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche.com or www.roche-diagnostics.us.

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SOURCE Roche Diagnostics Corporation