BD, SightDx tie up to sell malaria detection device in India

Global medical technology firm BD has tied up with Israel's SightDX to introduce the latter's malaria detection platform, Parasight in India.
Through this agreement BD (Becton, Dickinson and Co) will market the Parasight platform in the Indian diagnostics market adding to its infectious disease diagnostics portfolio, the company said in a statement.
BD India MD Varun Khanna said the collaboration is "aligned with our purpose of advancing the world of health by bringing technology solutions for malaria diagnosis to India."
This will mark BD's first step into the Indian malaria diagnostics market. This strategic collaboration will catalyse BD's role in reducing the global malaria burden, he added.

Sight Diagnostics Ltd (SightDX) CEO Yossi Pollak said, "BD provides us with an established and experienced partner in the field of infectious disease, and together we can better serve the Indian healthcare market."
The SightDx Parasight malaria detection platform uses high-end technology to analyse blood samples for malarial parasites with a new sample preparation method, allowing patient samples to be prepared quickly, easily and reliably, the statement said.

The instrument automatically analyses the sample and provides a diagnostic result within only four minutes. It also provides information on the species of the infecting malarial parasites and provides information that may be used by clinicians to aid in determining the severity of the illness.

BD currently markets a wide variety of diagnostic systems in India such as in the area of sepsis (blood culture systems), tuberculosis, pathogen identification, and blood cell morphology.
Parasight will be marketed in pathology labs and hospitals across India. In 2013, approximately 880,000 cases of malaria were reported in India with over 128 million tests performed, the statement added.