Roche and Panasonic Healthcare partner for novel POC system
Roche and Panasonic Healthcare partner for novel Point of Care system to improve diagnosis in metabolic syndrome.
Roche and Panasonic Healthcare have allied for a new medical testing solution to combine early diagnosis and control of blood lipid and average glucose concentration (HbA1c) levels. The new designed system will pioneer with a unique approach, as it enables healthcare professionals to early detect metabolic syndrome and to improve overall therapy guidance for patients with diabetes at point of care.
Manufactured by Panasonic Healthcare in Japan and marketed worldwide by Roche, the novel solution will respond to the growing needs of today’s cost conscious healthcare environment in primary care combining ease of use, reliability and cost effectiveness.
“I am convinced that the partnership with Panasonic Healthcare enables us to provide some pioneering improvements for healthcare professionals to early identify people with a metabolic syndrome, and to enhance overall therapy management for patients with chronic cardiovascular disease”, states Colin Brown, head of Roche Professional Diagnostics.
Starting at the end of 2012 [1], the novel blood glucose and lipid monitoring system will aid healthcare professionals with a rapid on-the-spot test for the two most important cardiovascular disease risk factors, as it also supports doctors with a user-friendly and failsafe handling for near patient testing.
“The new system will allow healthcare professionals to fully concentrate on their patients, as it will imply a convenient and safe handling of samples combined with a user friendly graphic interface for rapid and explicit result reporting. Seamless connectivity to the laboratory’s information system will allow consistent data management in established IT environments”, comments Kazuya Nakaya, Executive Managing Director of Panasonic Healthcare.
Metabolic syndrome affects 20 to 25% of the global adult population and it is a cluster of the most dangerous cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors: diabetes and elevated plasma glucose, abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. [2]
In 2011, about 366 million people worldwide suffered from diabetes. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this will increase to 552 million by 2030 and, the number of deaths will double to about 6 million annually. [3, 4] It is estimated that more than half of all people with diabetes type 2 remain undiagnosed. [4] As undiagnosed diabetes may affect serious cardiovascular problems it is important to be aware of its very early symptoms.
In the US, Japan and Europe there are more than 240 million people with abnormal lipoprotein levels and the prevalence is constantly increasing. [5] Dyslipidemia is a disorder of the lipoprotein metabolism, manifested by elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations in the blood. The WHO estimates that this situation accounts for 18% of ischemic heart disease (IHD) and 56% of stroke and more than four million of deaths annually. [6]
Besides the chronic impact to the patients, dyslipidemia and diabetes have a financial impact for the healthcare systems worldwide as the global healthcare expenditures to treat and to prevent diabetes and its side effects were estimated at USD 376 billion in 2010 alone.
The alliance with Panasonic Healthcare will continue to expand Roche’s global leading position with innovative products and services to enable healthcare professionals for improved management of chronic cardiovascular disease at the point of care.
RocheReferences
2. www.idf.org/metabolic-syndrome, accessed 08/02/2012
3. IDF Diabetes Atlas 2011
4. Diabetes WHO Fact sheet N°312. Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs312/en/
5. Smith DG Am J Managed Care 2007; 13 (3): 69-71
6. Lozano et al. Miscoding and misclassification of ischaemic heart disease mortality. Global Programme on Evidence for Health Policy Working Paper No. 12. World Health Organization, September 2001.
