Axis-Shield to Provide Afinion Systems to MinuteClinics for Diabetes Management

The in vitro diagnostics company Axis-Shield has announced an agreement with MinuteClinic that will allow diabetic patients to access hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) testing at approximately 600 MinuteClinic locations in the U. S. The agreement comes shortly after the announcement that Alere is to take-over the international company Axis-Shield, which is headquartered in Dundee, Scotland.

MinuteClinic is the largest retail medical clinic provider in the US and is a division of CVS Caremark. The walk-in medical clinics are staffed by point of care practitioners who provide treatment for common family illnesses and injuries; administer vaccinations; conduct physicals and wellness screenings; and offer monitoring for chronic conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and asthma.

Under the terms of the agreement, Axis-Shield will provide an Afinion^TM analyzer for each of the approximately 600 MinuteClinic locations in the US. This will allow patients to access HbA1c testing at the point of care, the results of which are provided within three minutes.

The Afinion^TM AS100 Analyzer is designed to enable on-the-spot testing, regardless of the sample type. The HbA1c test itself is based on boronate affinity test principle and does not suffer interference from common hemoglobin variants. The HbA1c test has been FDA approved and CLIA waived. ACR and CRP tests are also available for the Afinion^TM Analyzer (the CRP test is not currently available in the US).

Ian Gilham, Chief Executive Officer of Axis-Shield, commented: "We are pleased to be partnering with the largest provider of walk-in medical clinics to bring the simplicity and reliability of AfinionTM directly to patients, enabling widespread access to routine haemoglobin A1c testing."