A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

Group Services for America's Blood Centers (Washington) said it has signed a multi-year agreement with Chiron (Emeryville, California), a business unit of Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, for the purchase of the Procleix West Nile Virus Assay and the Procleix HIV-1/HCV Assay.

Group Services for America's Blood Centers is a cooperative owned by America's Blood Centers (ABC), providing group purchasing enterprise expertise and resource -sharing services to ABC members.

The agreement extends the existing supply contract with Chiron, providing ABC members continued access to assays that have intercepted thousands of infected blood samples since their approval by the FDA.

Jerry Haarmann, president of the newly formed group purchasing organization, said, "This new agreement means that our members will continue to provide more than 4,200 hospitals and healthcare facilities across North America with blood products screened with the most sensitive technology currently available on the market."

The Procleix nucleic acid tests incorporate nucleic acid testing technology to detect viral RNA and DNA in donated blood and plasma during the early stages of infection, when those infectious agents are present but cannot be detected by immunodiagnostic tests. The tests were developed in collaboration between Chiron and Gen-Probe (San Diego).

ABC is North America's largest network of community-based blood programs. Seventy-seven blood centers operate more than 600 collection sites in 45 U.S. states and Canada, providing half of the U.S. and all of Canada's volunteer donor blood supply. These blood centers provide blood products and services to more than 4,200 hospitals and healthcare facilities across North America.