bioMerieux and Labor Berlin to establish centre of excellence in lab diagnostics

Top Quote Labor Berlin (Charité Vivantes GmbH) and bioMérieux announce the signature of an agreement to create a Centre of Excellence for microbiology and enhanced laboratory automation. The centre will be located at Europe's largest hospital laboratory, serving more than 8,000 in-house patients in Berlin and handling over 23 million patient analys End Quote
  • (1888PressRelease) May 06, 2011 - Berlin (Germany) and Marcy l'Etoile (France) - In hospital settings in particular, microbiology labs are facing issues of cost effectiveness and must allocate their resources for the care that will have the most impact and help to shorten the length of hospital stays. They are confronted with emerging multi-drug resistant microorganisms and the need to reduce the transmission of disease within the hospital. Clinicians also want to adopt a more personalized approach to medicine and determine, as quickly as possible, the therapy that is best adapted to the individual patient and his (or her) condition, with the least possible side effects. To address these needs, Labor Berlin and bioMérieux are working together to integrate the newest diagnostic and information technologies available into optimized laboratory processes.

    bioMérieux and Labor Berlin have a shared vision for the future of patient care. Through this agreement, Labor Berlin has become a partner of choice to define, develop and test the solutions for bioMérieux's novel FMLA™ range (where 'FMLA' stands for 'Full Microbiology Laboratory Automation'). The two partners are conducting joint projects, including one to develop the perfect process organization for large-scale microbiology laboratories, based on Lean Lab methodologies. They are also collaborating in the clinical performance evaluation of new diagnostic solutions. Labor Berlin is contributing its unique panel of academic, technical and business experts in the area of infectious-disease management.

    bioMérieux, the world's leader in microbiology, is responsible for designing the new microbiology laboratory for Labor Berlin, located at the Charité Virchow campus. The company is bringing its expertise in advanced diagnostic technologies, IT and lab automation to the partnership, as well as training and quality management support. A dedicated team is accompanying Labor Berlin in the transfer to the new lab, ensuring change management, and integrating the laboratory solutions and workflow. This avant-garde laboratory will feature, among others, Myla™, bioMérieux's novel middleware, to integrate real-time information from diagnostic platforms with the laboratory information system and make it possible for clinicians to retrieve results whenever they are needed and wherever they are in the hospital.

    "The medicine of the future will feature a greater integration of technology and knowledge. Doctors will be able to benefit from the advances and approaches of different fields to determine the best treatment for their patients," said Prof. Ulf Göbel, Head of Microbiology at Labor Berlin.

    "We consider bioMérieux as a global partner with long-standing expertise in microbiology and a strong presence worldwide. We are convinced that working together will boost the efficiency and the quality of care we provide, both today and tomorrow," added Florian Kainzinger, Managing Director of Labor Berlin.

    "We are very pleased to benefit from the expertise of the leading microbiologists and clinicians at Labor Berlin to design FMLA and fast microbiology solutions," said Alexandre Mérieux, Corporate Vice President of the Microbiology Unit of bioMérieux. "We are convinced that making patient results and epidemiological information more rapidly and readily available will enable microbiologists and clinicians to work more closely and effectively together to improve patient care."

    About Labor Berlin

    Labor Berlin - Charité Vivantes GmbH is a joint venture of the Charité University Medical Centre and the Vivantes Network for Health, the leading provider of community hospital services in Berlin (Germany).

    The institution offers cutting-edge diagnostic services in all areas of clinical pathology, microbiology, virology, molecular and human genetics and further special diagnostics. More than 23 million patient analyses are processed annually at 12 different sites for over 8,000 in-house patients and approximately 800,000 out-patients in Berlin.

    Besides clinical laboratory diagnostics, Labor Berlin provides services for research and development projects ranging from the testing of new assays and the high throughput validation of novel biomarkers to offering complete solutions for joint development, using its tight relationship with the clinical and research facilities of the Charité University Medical Centre.

    About bioMérieux

    Advancing Diagnostics to Improve Public Health

    A world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics for over 45 years, bioMérieux is present in more than 150 countries through 39 subsidiaries and a large network of distributors. In 2010, revenues reached €1.357 billion with 87% of sales outside France.

    bioMérieux provides diagnostic solutions (reagents, instruments, software) which determine the source of disease and contamination to improve patient health and ensure consumer safety. Its products are used for diagnosing infectious diseases and providing high-medical-value results for cancer screening and monitoring and cardiovascular emergencies. They are also used for detecting microorganisms in agri-food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.

    bioMérieux is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris market (Symbol: BIM - ISIN: FR0010096479).

    ?Media Contacts at bioMérieux and Labor Berlin
    ?Labor Berlin
    Dr. Andreas Weimann
    Tel.: +49 (151) 42230505
    Email: andreas.weimann ( @ ) laborberlin dot com

    ?bioMérieux
    Ms Koren Wolman-Tardy
    Tel.: +33 4 78 87 20 08
    Email: media ( @ ) biomerieux dot com

    For further information, please go to: www.biomerieux.com

    For further information, please contact :

    Quote ref. : FTPB3596
    Ms Mary-Ann WILLIAMS - Press Officer
    UBIFRANCE Press Office in London
    Tel: +44 (0) 207 024 3640
    mary-ann.williams ( @ ) ubifrance dot fr

    View other press releases at :
    http://www.ubifrance.com/uk/

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