Roche introduces mobile blood gas analyzer for hospital point of care

INDIANAPOLIS, July 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced today the U.S. introduction of the cobas b 123 POC system, a mobile blood gas analyzer designed for hospital point of care settings. The system's next-generation technology helps ensure reliable performance by virtually eliminating the introduction of blood clots that can contribute to analyzer downtime and negatively impact patient care.

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"The addition of the cobas b 123 POC system to our blood gas analyzer portfolio enables hospitals to provide lab-like accuracy for blood gas testing at the point of care, while reducing their potential maintenance requirements," said Joe Crowley, senior vice president, Professional Diagnostics-Hospital, at Roche Diagnostics Corporation. "As a result, respiratory therapists and other caregivers can spend more of their time focusing on patients and their needs."

With patented thick-film sensor technology and a broad assay menu that includes lactate, the cobas b 123 POC system offers fast turnaround time for 15 important critical-care blood gas and electrolyte tests. It has a mobile cart to facilitate use in a variety of areas, from the intensive care unit to the patient floor.   In addition, the cobas b 123 POC system offers automated linearity testing and calibration to simplify both workflow and regulatory compliance.

The analyzer features an unparalleled four-level clot protection system that helps prevent downtime caused by the introduction of clots that lead to reagent pack failures—a major issue for healthcare facilities because replacing the pack takes time away from patient care and wastes usable reagent.  In addition, the fluid packs for the cobas b 123 POC system require no refrigeration and include smart chips, allowing them to be easily transferred between similar devices and helping hospitals control material and labor costs.

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 2011, Roche had over 80,000 employees worldwide and invested over 8 billion Swiss francs in R&D. The Group posted sales of 42.5 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