bioMérieux Gains International Approval for its Automated "Next Day" Solution: VIDAS® Listeria Xpress

bioMérieux, a world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics, announced today that VIDAS® Listeria Xpress (LSX), an automated test for the fast detection of Listeria species, has been granted Official Methods of Analysis (OMA) approval by AOAC INTERNATIONAL on a wide variety of food products. This added level of certification assures VIDAS LSX users that the test meets stringent AOAC standards for excellence in pathogen detection.

As part of the VIDAS Next Day range, VIDAS LSX has previously received AOAC-RI (Research Institute) validation for food production environmental samples, and is certified by AFNOR Validation according to the ISO 16140 standard.

bioMérieux’s expertise in both immunoassays and microbiology resulted in the creation of a high performance solution to detect Listeria species in less than 30 hours, faster than most of the other automated methods. For this test, bioMérieux developed a specific enrichment broth (LX broth) to boost the growth of Listeria species.

“bioMérieux is committed to helping customers ensure food safety worldwide,” said Alexandre Mérieux, Corporate Vice President, Industrial Microbiology. “This official approval is a result of our investment in the VIDAS range to provide the food industry with high performance testing solutions.”

About Listeria

Members of the genus Listeria are ubiquitous, and Listeria monocytogenes is pathogenic for humans. Listeria have been isolated from various food products including dairy products, meat, vegetables, and seafood, as well as from environmental samples taken, in particular, from food processing plants. Listeriosis in humans may cause pathologies such as meningitis, septicaemia, encephalitis and abortions. People at risk include pregnant women, neonates, immunocompromised patients, and the elderly.

About VIDAS®

VIDAS® is the world’s leading automated system for food-borne pathogen detection with tests for Escherichia coli O157 (Including H7), Salmonella, Listeria sp., Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus enterotoxins and Campylobacter. VIDAS® and its compact version, miniVIDAS®, are multi-parametric systems using ELFA (Enzyme Linked Fluorescent Assay) technology, and based on a ready-to-use single-sample test concept.

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 than150 countries through 39 subsidiaries and a large network of distributors. In 2009, revenues reached €1.223 billion with 85% of sales outside of 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 agrifood, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. bioMérieux is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris market (Symbol: BIM – ISIN: FR0010096479). Other information can be found at www.biomerieux.com.

Contacts

bioMérieux
Koren Wolman-Tardy
Tel: + 33 6 13 94 51 14
media@eu.biomerieux.com

Fleishman-Hillard
Kimberly Mays
Tel: + 1 216 928-3459
kimberly.mays@fleishman.com

Image Sept
Laurence Heilbronn
Tel: + 33 1 53 70 74 64
lheilbronn@image7.fr

Albane de La Tour d'Artaise
Tel: + 33 1 53 70 74 84
adelatour@image7.fr