Disease screening in France

The EFS system chooses the Novartis Diagnostics for screening blood products for HIV-1, hepatitis B and hepatitis C

The French Blood Establishment (EFS), the fifth largest blood collection organization in the world, chose the system of nucleic acid testing (NAT) Novartis Diagnostics to further reduce the risk of infection from blood products French and to prevent infections transmitted through transfusion. The system includes the first and only fully automated platform, Tigris, and testing for HIV-1, hepatitis B and hepatitis C Procleix ® Ultrio.

The adoption of the system Novartis Diagnostics offers the EFS solution fully automated blood test that meets the needs of its 14 sites, which cover all every year three million blood donations. Novartis has introduced its new systems in 14 sites in record time.

In preparation for the selection of Novartis Diagnostics as a sole supplier, the EFS has decided to opt for individual donor testing (IDT) in place and place of the method of "pooling" of blood donations ahead of tests NAT *. For EFS, the tests allow individual donors to provide the highest level of analytical sensitivity and eliminate the extra steps associated with the "pooling".

Novartis Diagnostics is a global leader in the field of high-sensitivity tests used to screen blood products in HIV, hepatitis B and C, and West Nile Virus. Previously, using the EFS system testing Novartis Diagnostics in a proportion that did not exceed 30% of its blood products.