UNILABS launches a new range of early-stage diagnostic tests in Europe
Geneva (ots)
Biocheckup tests will allow early detection of signs of illness and permit evaluation of the risk factors for diseases such as diabetes, cancer or cardiovascular disease
Most people are concerned by the state of their health and would like to know their predisposition to different pathologies before they become established (e.g. diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease 1).
Unilabs is responding to this need through its new panels of biological tests.
For the early detection of certain diseases, Unilabs is launching a series of three screening tests and nine assessment panels that provide the physician with a more effective assessment of the health status of his patient. As a result, the physician is able to initiate a personalized treatment on a pro-active basis.
The results are presented in an easy-to-understand format allowing the physician and the patient to measure objectively the effectiveness of the treatment and to visualize the progress that has been made.
The new " Biocheckup " tests are tests primarily from research laboratories that have been adapted for use in medical biology laboratories. " Biocheckup " offers new tests available for the first time and updates existing diagnostic methods based on a review of scientific information and subsequent validation.
Dr Mikael Rabaeus, Medical Director of the Clinique de Genolier in Switzerland stated: " The new Biocheckup concept is a very useful tool in the daily practice of the physician, because it allows him to detect in advance potential biological disfunction in order to correct this as soon as possible before a disease establishes itself. This new diagnostic tool also allows the patient to increase his awareness of his health status and to better protect it. "
The future objective of the " Biocheckup " department is to offer to the medical profession the best available diagnostic tools, including molecular diagnostic methods.
The Unilabs group is certain that early diagnosis by the physician, will lead to an improvement in the quality of life of the patient and also contribute to the reduction of health costs.
Biocheckup tests are now available in Switzerland and Italy and will shortly be available in France.
The Unilabs Group (SWX: ULB) is the European leader of laboratories for medical analyses. With 40 laboratories and over 1500 employees operating in 5 countries, Unilabs analyses over 3 million samples per year using a panel of more than 1500 clinical tests. The medical analyses of Unilabs are used by 60 hospitals in France, Spain and Switzerland. Unilabs is listed on the SWX Swiss Stock Exchange since 1997.
Footnote:
1) According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular disease was responsible for 16.7 million deaths worldwide in 2002, which represents 29.2% of total global deaths.1 Obesity has reached epidemic proportions, with more than 1 billion adults overweight, at least 300 million of which are thought to be clinically obese.2 Diabetes alone affects 177 million people worldwide and this number is likely to increase to at least 300 million by 2025.3
1 World Health Report, 2003. 2 World Health Organization, Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. Fact sheet available at www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/media/en/gsfs_obesity.pdf 3 Latest available estimate from 2002.
Contact:
Edgard Zwirn
Executive Chairman
Tel. +41/22/909'77'77
Internet: www.unilabs.ch