BD Wins CE Mark for Test to Assess Immune Function in COVID-19 Patients

Becton Dickinson and Company (BD) has been awarded CE mark for a product that can assess immune function in COVID-19 patients.

The Franklin Lakes, NJ-based company said the BD Multitest 6-Color TBNK Reagent with BD Trucount goes beyond the complete blood count and looks at the T-cell subtypes in COVID-19 patients.

BD’s test has been used for years to assess immune function in HIV patients.

“The availability of this product with the expanded clinical application in COVID-19 patients is an important step in helping clinicians better understand how patient immune systems are responding to COVID-19 infection,” said Puneet Sarin, worldwide president, Biosciences at BD, “BD is a trusted partner in immunology research and clinical care with a long history helping clinicians and patients better understand immune function to make patient care decisions. Bringing this expertise to clinicians treating COVID-19 patients presents a great opportunity to enable deeper immune assessment of patients, which could lead to improved uses of precious resources within a hospital while helping get patients on the right clinical path.”

CE marking of the BD Multitest 6-Color TBNK Reagent offering comes on the heels of the company launching a 15 minute COVID-19 test in Europe.

In its most recent earnings quarter, Tom Polen, president and CEO of BD, spoke on the strength of its COVID-19 tests.   

“We saw very strong demand for COVID-19 diagnostic tests and supplies during the quarter which was offset by a deferral of routine lab work as well as delays in capital investments on both the research and the diagnostic side,” Polen said according to a Seeking Alpha transcript of the earnings call. “In [4Q20], we expect continued strong demand for our COVID-19 diagnostics solutions with the addition of the Veritor assay to the portfolio.”

Polen added, “Despite the challenging environments it's clear that BD's durable capabilities and critical healthcare portfolio have been and will continue to be a vital part of the COVID-19 solution.”