Newborn Screening Test for Sickle Cell Disease Now Supported by Gazelle 8-Minute, Point-of-Care Diagnostic

First worldwide “over-the-air” software enhancement made to Gazelle customer installations

PORTLAND, Ore. & MUMBAI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hemex Health announced the launch of the Company’s first virtual upgrade to its Gazelle platform and Sickle Cell Disease test today that expands the patient age range from 6 weeks and older to all ages, including newborns. The upgrade, free to those with the Gazelle device, also includes printing enhancements and a variety of ease-of-use features.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is one of the most common and severe of all inherited hematological disorders, causing substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide. According to the Sickle Cell Disease Foundation, SCD is responsible for between 5% and 16% of all infant deaths in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Five hundred children die every day from SCD for lack of testing,” said Dr. Stephen Obaro, Professor of Pediatrics at University of Nebraska, Medical Center and Director of IFAIN (International Foundation Against Infectious Disease in Nigeria). “With Gazelle’s newborn screening test, we anticipate more opportunities to diagnose babies and to educate their families about simple treatment regimens such as a pneumonia vaccine, daily penicillin, and nutritional support. In high prevalence areas, like Nigeria, Gazelle could help save the life of one child for every hundred tests.”

“The levels of hemoglobin that need to be measured in newborns to detect SCD are very low. Hemex improvements enable the Gazelle test to identify these low levels for sickle cell disease and trait, Barts, and other important hemoglobinopathies at birth,” continued Dr. Obaro.

“Gazelle takes a sophisticated, high-end test, electrophoresis, and makes it available to everyone on an affordable, point-of-care platform,” said Patti White, CEO of Hemex. “Gazelle finds more abnormalities than other point-of-care tests. Additionally, because Gazelle can quantify the percentages of hemoglobin types in the blood, we are testing its benefits for treatment monitoring.”

First of many enhancements

Hemex also announced that Gazelles connected to Wi-Fi will receive an automatic notification of the update through the Cloud or that customers could receive the update via USB drive from their distributor.

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