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Automated sample preparation for infectious diseases and cancer diagnostics; early diagnosis of colorectal cancer through Genefec III and testing difficult samples for Methicillin resistant S.aureus (MRSA), tuberculosis, sexually transmitted infections (STI) and respiratory pathogens are the core technologies that underpin the company's outstanding product line.
“NorDiag has an impressive product and development portfolio of molecular technology solutions for infectious diseases and cancer diagnostics,” notes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Gayathry Ramachandran. “It offers a wide range of instrumentation to perform sample preparation solutions with a focus on difficult samples such as faeces, sputum and urine as well as molecular tests contributing to the early diagnosis of colorectal cancer.”
The company has been highly successful in developing unique sample preparation methods for infectious disease detection. The patented BUGS'n BEADS™ technology filters the sample keeping the nucleic acid intact and free of any amplification inhibitors. This technology can be used for a variety of purposes including the purification of nucleic acids from difficult samples such as sputum, urine and faeces.
“The automated sample preparation technique for cancers such as lung and colorectal cancer, infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, MRSA and STI as well as nucleic acid isolation have demonstrably reduced lab costs, and have multiple applications in a single instrument,” remarks Ramachandran. “In the STI infectious disease detection market, NorDiag has customised automated sample preparation systems and set up for Becton Dickinson's ProbeTec and Roche's Taqman 48 analyzers. With an approximately 15 per cent market share in Scandinavia, NorDiag is a strong competitor in the market for STI sample preparations.”
The company has recently completed the development of a process for automated human DNA isolation from faeces for the testing of colorectal cancer as well as other diseases. NorDiag plans to launch its next generation test (Genefec III) contributing to early diagnostics of colorectal cancer by 2009. The test will be in an automated format and will be positioned as a parallel to Faecal Occult Blood Testing (FOBT). Clinical testing will be completed later this year.
“NorDiag is in collaboration with EXACT Sciences to design an automated nucleic acid sample preparation system from stool samples for the early diagnosis of colorectal cancer,” adds Ramachandran. “This will support the development of low cost, robust molecular technology for the early detection of colorectal cancer.”
The company has successfully placed high/medium throughput systems in hospitals and larger laboratories. NorDiag has four sample preparation instrument platforms with dedicated reagents that effectively meet customer needs of sample throughput, sample volume and sample type. NorDiag will launch a unique and affordable desk top instrument (“Arrow”) in December this year with dedicated reagents, and scalable sample volumes.
“We are honored to receive the Frost & Sullivan 2008 European IVD Market Product Line Strategy Award. NorDiag is committed to providing clinical laboratories with novel, accurate and useful diagnostic tools. We believe that this will give us even more ammunition in reaching our goal of being a leading company in selected niches within molecular diagnostics for human diseases,” says NorDiag CEO Mårten Wigstøl. “The recognition from a well reputed company such as Frost and Sullivan will contribute to building strong credibility among clinical diagnostics laboratories globally”.
The Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Line Strategy is presented this year to a company that has demonstrated the most insight into customer needs and product demands. The recipient company should have optimized its product line by leveraging products with the various price, performance, and feature points required by the market.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.
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About NorDiag ASA
NorDiag (nordiag.com) is a biotechnology company developing, manufacturing and marketing automated solutions, instruments and tests, for diagnostic of infectious diseases and cancer. The Company`s core competence is isolation of bacterial and human DNA from difficult clinical samples, and the Company has established a solid market share in the Scandinavian market for sexually transmitted infections. The company has similar applications for Tuberculosis and MRSA. An application for respiratory pathogens is under development. NorDiag is also developing a test that shall contribute to early diagnosis of colorectal cancer, as well as a test that shall contribute to optimal treatment of lung cancer patients. NorDiag was founded in 2003 and has its headquarters in Oslo – Norway. The Company has offices and laboratories in Bergen - Norway, Stockholm - Sweden and West Chester (PA) - USA. The group has 36 employees. NorDiag is listed on Oslo Stock Exchange with the ticker NORD.
Contact:
Mårten Wigstøl
NorDiag ASA
E: morten.wigstol[.]nordiag.com.
DDI: +47 2202 6561.
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catherine.brassell[.]frost.com 
