Franklin Lakes, New Jersey–based BD’s COR system now includes an MX instrument for high-throughput molecular testing for sexually transmitted infections, with the new instrument and its first test for such infections receiving CE mark approval in Europe.
The company said in a news release that the new MX instrument constitutes the final piece of the COR system, which includes a PX instrument that can prepare diagnostic samples through the automation of appropriate pre-analytical processing steps. It also has a GX instrument that can leverage the BD Onclarity HPV assay with extended genotyping to screen for HPV infections.
BD built the MX instrument off its BD MAX system’s molecular PCR (polymerase chain reaction) technology platform. The medium-throughput system has been at the center of COVID-19 testing throughout the pandemic and the company said it plans to leverage BD MAX’s menu of infectious disease tests to create assays that can be performed in high-throughput central reference labs on the BD COR system.
The first test available on the MX instrument is the BD CTGCTV2 for BD COR, which the company designed to use a single test to detect the three most prevalent non-viral sexually transmitted infections: Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhea and Trichomonas vaginalis.
BD’s COR system allows 1,700 specimens to be loaded with onboard capacity for reagents and samples that provide more than six hours of unimpeded system processing and up to 1,000 sample results in 24 hours.
“The BD COR PX/GX system is already used at laboratories across Europe and in Israel, helping to improve diagnostics and positively impact patient care,” BD VP of Molecular Diagnostics Nikos Pavlidis said in the release. “The availability of the MX instrument expands the use of the platform and automates testing for an expanding list of high-demand, essential assays for women’s health and STI testing using multiplex PCR assay design, starting with BD’s CTGCTV2 test.”
