artus and Abbott Laboratories introduce automated diagnostic tests for SARS and other infectious diseases

Three New Automated PCR Tests on ABI PRISM® 7000 System Provide Early Detection of SARS, Chlamydia Trachomatis and Mycobacterium Tuberculosis

artus GmbH and Abbott Laboratories have announced the introduction of three nucleic acid-based tests for detecting infectious diseases, including the virus believed to cause Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

The SARS test, the RealArt™ HPA Coronavirus PCR Kit, is based on the highly sensitive real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology, which directly detects the virus in patient samples for early diagnosis of the disease. It was developed for use on the Applied Biosystems ABI PRISM® 7000 Sequence Detection System by artus in collaboration with the Bernhard-Nocht- Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, Germany. The ABI PRISM 7000 is a complete, real-time PCR system used for detecting and quantifying nucleic acid sequences. Abbott and artus also introduced real-time PCR tests for Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis for use on the ABI PRISM 7000 system – the RealArt™ C. trachomatis PCR Kit, and the RealArt™ M. tuberculosis PCR Reagents.

All three tests are available throughout the world, except in the United States, Canada and Japan.

"These new products represent an important step in our commitment to infectious disease testing through a growing portfolio of automated real-time PCR assays for the molecular laboratory," said Edward L. Michael, president, Molecular Diagnostics, Abbott Laboratories.

In May, Abbott and artus announced a worldwide marketing and distribution agreement. Under the agreement, artus manufactures the three tests and Abbott, through its alliance with Celera Diagnostics, has worldwide rights to market and distribute the tests on the ABI Prism 7000 system.