Dubai, UAE, 25th January, 2016 – Roche Diagnostics Middle East (RDME), the leading in in-vitro diagnostics in the region, unveiled two major new diagnostic technologies at the Arab Health Exhibition & Congress 2016. These new innovative instruments will further enable the region’s health care professionals and patients to make timely decisions upon receiving utmost accurate diagnosis.

Commenting on RDME’s participation in the Arab Health Exhibition & Congress 2016, Moritz Hartmann, General Manager of RDME said: “Arab Health Exhibition & Congress provides the perfect launch pad for these innovative instruments, as diagnostics have become one of the most influential elements in healthcare provision.  That’s why we strive through our continuous innovation to constantly increase testing efficiency, workflow integration, and breadth of diagnosis – enabling labs to provide test results while increasing accuracy and speed, thus empowering healthcare professionals and their patients to make informed decisions that are appropriate for them and their treatment journey.”

The newly launched cobas e 801 module for immunology testing is a platform capable of carrying out double the number of tests compared with the previous versions e 601 and e 602, within the same laboratory space. The system requires smaller blood samples, making it particularly suitable for the diagnosis of vulnerable patients such as newly born babies, those with cancer, and the elderly.

RDME also showcased the cobas c 513 – a high-throughput HbA1c analyzer – which can assess sugar levels for the last three months, making it suitable for diagnosis and monitoring for diabetes patients. Recent figures from the International Diabetes Federation show that almost 37 million people in the MENA region have diabetes, which if left unchecked could more than double by 2035.1

“The increasing number of people with diabetes is challenging healthcare providers and is putting a significant strain on healthcare systems,” Mr. Hartmann said. “With the cobas c 513, Roche Diagnostics is meeting the growing testing needs of our customers here in the Middle East and ultimately improving patient care,” he added.

The highly automated analyzer sets new standards in terms of laboratory efficiency and reduces the risk of contamination while increasing safety for laboratory personnel. Designed to run a large number of tests simultaneously, the cobas c 513 also features direct results reporting, thereby minimizing the risk of result misinterpretation and eliminating the need to perform pre-analyses procedures. This saves valuable time while ensuring high quality results.

As the leading medical diagnostics company in the region, Mr. Hartmann reaffirmed RDME’s  commitment to support the community through several educational initiatives that aim at raising awareness, such as Roche Academy, several online educational courses, in addition to ‘MeDia Talks’, an educational program that engages members of the media throughout the region. The company is also the diamond sponsor of MEDLAB, the technology component of Arab Health.