Grifols and Hologic embark on a unique collaboration for COVID-19 testing in Spain

Barcelona, Spain, and Marlborough, Mass., June 10, 2020 -  Hologic, Inc, a global medical technology company with a speciality in molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases, and Grifols, a leading global producer of plasma-derived medicines and a leader in the development of innovative diagnostic solutions, announced today that they will combine forces in Spain to substantially increase the country’s testing capacity for COVID-19 to help meet its high testing needs to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic.  This is especially relevant as the country is gradually de-escalating and tourism will soon return which will significantly help re-open the economy safely.

As part of this unique collaboration, Hologic has agreed that Grifols will be able to extend sales of its Procleix® SARS CoV-2 assay into molecular diagnostic testing laboratories in Spain. This ensures that all regions within the country will be able to access a SARS-CoV-2 assay.

“As the global demand for testing continues to increase, this collaboration agreement will make the test available to a wider range of laboratories across the country, significantly increasing the capacity of COVID-19 testing in Spain,” said Jose Yebra, General Manager Italy, Spain & Portugal at Hologic. “Our combined efforts will enable a faster, more widespread adoption of high volume, high throughput testing.”

The Procleix® SARS-CoV-2 assay, developed by Grifols, runs on the Procleix® Panther® system, an automated, high-throughput molecular diagnostic platform. Both Procleix® and Panther® systems use the same proprietary technology called TMA (Transcription Mediated Amplification), owned by Hologic and exclusively licensed to Grifols for use in donor screening.

This process makes multiple copies of unique genetic sequences that are specific to a virus, in this case SARS-CoV-2, facilitating its rapid and accurate detection. The Procleix® Panther® system can provide initial results in approximately three and a half hours and process more than 1,000 coronavirus tests in a 24-hour period.

“Testing for the presence of the virus continues to play a significant role in Spain’s continuous fight against COVID-19,” said Gregorio Alcantarilla, Director Division Diagnostic Iberia at Grifols. “Our collaboration with Hologic will enable us to support a wider range of laboratories across the country in meeting the demand for these tests over the coming weeks and months.”
 

About COVID-19

For more information about the novel coronavirus, visit: https://www.mscbs.gob.es/en/organizacion/portada/home.htm

About Procleix^® Panther^®

The Procleix® Panther® system is an automated molecular biology analyzer for high performance clinical diagnostics capable of processing more than 1,000 samples daily per unit.

About Panther^®

The Panther molecular diagnostics system is a fully automated, sample-to-result platform that can be used in low-, medium- or high-throughput laboratories. With a small footprint, adaptable workflow options and consolidated testing menu, it combines women’s health, sexually transmitted infections and viral testing, which can all be done simultaneously.  

About Aptima^® SARS-CoV-2 assay

The Aptima SARS-CoV-2 assay has been clinically validated and CE-marked. It runs on Hologic’s fully automated Panther system.