Dr. Peter Fitzgerald

 

Tell us about your organisation and its journey to date.

Randox is a leading diagnostics company from the UK, with over 40 years of experience in the life sciences sector. From an initial team of two people, we now employ over 2,500 staff and maintain considerable investment and capabilities in R&D and innovation. We are currently active in 145 countries around the world.  

Randox is passionate about improving healthcare worldwide, using innovative diagnostic technologies. We understand that more accurate, sensitive and reliable processes will lead to earlier diagnosis, producing improved health outcomes at a reduced cost. We know that the laboratory is key to improving healthcare systems in the future and our clinical product offering - includes diagnostic reagents, quality control and PT systems alongside a range of clinical chemistry, immunoassay and PCR analysers – is designed to that purpose. We also have considerable expertise and capability in toxicology and food diagnostics, to support key activity in those sectors. 

We also pride ourselves as a highly agile organisation, able to react swiftly to rapidly changing circumstances. This was evidenced during the COVID pandemic when Randox were identified by the UK Government as a key testing partner. From a standing start, Randox increased PCR testing capacity from 300 tests per day to 120,000 tests per day, delivering almost 25 million PCR tests to both the Government and private sectors – identifying over one million positive cases. To do so, Randox built and equipped 80,000 sq ft of PCR laboratories and recruited and trained over 1,000 additional staff within a very short time, during an intense period of national and international lockdowns.

The expertise gained during COVID is now focused at the wider healthcare requirements within the diagnostics sector.   

How has the organisation evolved to address the challenges of an ever-changing healthcare sector? Please list some accomplishments.

Randox understands the importance on innovation and have adopted processes of continuous improvement to ensure our products and processes achieve and maintain maximum efficiency and effectiveness. Each year we return up to 25 per cent of our turnover into R&D, and around one-quarter of our staff are research scientists and engineers. On that basis, we are committed to engagement across a wide range of markets and support an active programme of collaboration. Through these activities, we aim to identify and address, in a timely manner, the ever-changing demands of the healthcare sector. 

This effort has provided Randox with considerable depth. For example, when key PCR materials were in global short supply during the pandemic, Randox was able to commit to self-manufacture, meeting all the technical and regulatory requirements in record time. 

Our commitments are well-targeted and have borne fruit. We have evidenced continuous improvement in our quality control materials and software, in our PT capabilities, in our range of reagents, and across a range of clinical chemistry and immunoassay reagents. We have also developed fully automated PCR systems for both the point of care and larger throughput hospital laboratory market. Please visit our booth to learn more. 

Give us an insight into your portfolio and solutions targeted at the Middle East region. 

Our solutions in the sector of laboratory quality management are extremely popular throughout the middle east, especially our RIQAS EQA/PT programmes and internal quality control materials. We also have the recently released new version of our 247 QC software, which enables laboratories to review and interpret their QC results in real time, as well as comparing themselves to other labs around the world using the same equipment.

Also, conveniently timed just before the COVID-19 pandemic, Randox expanded our EQA and QC portfolio to include coverage of PCR techniques for infectious diseases, via the QCMD and Qnostics brands. QCMD has over 100 programmes for EQA, and Qnostics covers a wide range of QC, linearity and validation kit material to assist labs with the validation and monitoring of their PCR assays. We have found that these products have been especially useful in the post-pandemic era, as labs are now seeking to utilise additional PCR equipment they brought in during COVID, by expanding their PCR test menu beyond respiratory diseases (e.g. to cover areas such as tuberculosis, STDs, gastrointestinal, etc). 

Tell us about your recent and upcoming investments and partnerships in this field

As briefly touched upon, each year we return up to 25 per cent of our turnover into R&D, and around one-quarter of our staff are research scientists and engineers. One key focus for Randox is to improve therapeutic intervention through novel testing panel utilising the capabilities of our patented Biochip Technology.

Clinical panel development is well underway for the Evidence MultiSTAT which includes the Stoke array to complement and enhance CT scanning technology to facilities accurate classification of stroke patients within 30 minutes. ARDS is another panel for the stratification of hypo and hyper-inflammatory subphenotypes in ARDS patients within 36 minutes and from the COVID pandemic Randox has focused investment into detecting key markers implicated in cytokine toxicity in patients with an acute hyper-inflammatory response in 60 minutes.

What will you be showcasing at Medlab Middle East 2023? 

Along with a wide range of new range of quality control products, Randox will be using this years Medlab Middle East as an opportunity to showcase the latest development in the Randox Acusera 24•7 IQC platform. 

With Acusera 24•7, QC data review is now faster and simpler than ever before. Our programme aims to save the laboratory precious time and money by instantly flagging any QC failures ultimately ensuring accurate test system performance. Designed to complement and be used primarily with our Acusera range of true third-party controls, Acusera 24•7 has two primary functions; 1) management and interpretation of IQC data and 2) rapid and effective troubleshooting of QC failures via access to instantly updated worldwide peer group statistics. 

Acusera 24•7 has been modernised as Randox announced the automatic calculation of Measurement of Uncertainty, Total Error and Sigma Metrics as brand-new features to our software. Our software is highly flexible with custom configurations of performance limits, multi-rules and target values designed to meet and exceed every laboratory’s needs. Being able to identify trends, system errors, minimise false rejections and bridge the gap between IQC and EQA there really is no reason to look elsewhere for your analytical performance of QC.

In addition to the above, what opportunities are you looking forward to at the upcoming event?

As always, Medlab Middle East provides us with an essential opportunity to meet with current & potential end users, as well as distributors, across the region (and beyond). It also gives us a forum to meet with B2B clients who are also present as other exhibitors or delegates. Increasing awareness of our brand & portfolio across the middle east is always our core aim.

Please tell us about your plans for the year 2023.

For 2023, again, Randox are focusing heavily on the development and launch of new products. Developing our Randox of third-party quality controls. With a wide range of new QC products coming available in 2023 include AMH, cardiac, liquid bilirubin, serum indices, Troponin T, HBeAg, P24 Antigen, Xanthochromia, D-Dimer, Serology, RIQAS microbiology, RIQAS AMH, RIQAS cytokines, RIQAS serum indices, RIQAS G-6-PDH, Neonatal bilirubin, hematology, serology EBV, serology HIV/ Hepatitis, ToRch and Syphilis.  

Randox is also planning to launch new point of care assays on both the Vivalytic all in one molecular solution and the VeraSTAT immunoassay platform including D-Dimer, ApoE4, G-FABP, Human SAA along with infectious disease panels for SARS-CoV-2, Flu A / B and RSV, MRSA and M. genitalium, M. hominis, U. parvum, and U. urealyticum.