NEW YORK (360Dx) – Ortho Clinical Diagnostics and EKF Diagnostic today announced a deal to provide patients expanded access to EKF's beta-hydroxybutyrate assay for the diagnosis of ketoacidosis.
The assay is now available for use on Ortho's Vitros 4600 chemistry system and the Vitros 5600 integrated system.
The two firms are making the BHB assay available as a validated MicroTip Partnership Assay, a program set up by Ortho to provide validated third-party assays to clinicians, physicians, and patients. EKF's BHB assay is primarily for determining the presence and degree of ketosis in patients suspected of having diabetic ketoacidosis, the main causative factor of ketoacidosis.
BHB is an important marker that can be used with other clinical findings and lab tests to diagnose and manage ketoacidosis and diabetic ketoacidosis, according to Ortho and EKF.
"Diabetic ketoacidosis is a serious condition, and our collaboration with Ortho Clinical Diagnostics will help to deliver the important BHB assay to their existing customers," EKF Diagnostics Head of Sales Gilbert Mejia said in a statement.