Neil Goddard: Point-of-care testing complements existing high-throughput pathways

Our current sexually transmitted infection (STI) portfolio uses PCR technology for various sexual health targets — the main ones being Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Trichomonas vaginalis, and Mycoplasma genitalium. These, and others, are used by our lab-based partners where they are processed in high-throughput settings.

Tests performed by genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics, GPs and others are typically sent to a contract testing provider that uses Roche’s medium-to high-throughput platforms, which can deliver a result in a few days.

This remains the cornerstone of sexual health testing. However, there are some situations where a quicker turnaround time could be advantageous. The Roche cobas® liat system gives clinicians the choice of Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae (CT/NG) and Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Mycoplasma genitalium (CT/NG/MG) assays, providing clinically validated and accurate results in just 20 minutes.^{1, 2}

There may be reasons why clinicians decide a rapid test is beneficial. One of the main reasons is that clinicians can diagnose people who could get lost in the system. It could also be effective for asymptomatic people who may unwillingly spread the virus. It can also be used to rapidly diagnose those people who are clearly symptomatic.

If there’s a risk of loss of follow-up through location, lifestyle, or any other reason, it may be advantageous to generate a result while they wait. If it’s positive, clinicians can diagnose and prescribe as soon as possible. It could have other benefits including reducing the risk of infections spreading.

No, I don’t think so. Point of care testing using the cobas® liat analyser and assay is not designed to do more than one sample at a time. It's very low-throughput and wouldn’t be efficient to test at scale.

The tests are only likely to be used in relatively small numbers when compared to high-throughput lab testing solutions. They’ll only be used when a clinician decides a rapid result is beneficial.

Point of care testing will never compete with high-throughput laboratory testing but exists as a complementary solution.

Roche has a strong and established relationship with the UK’s leading sexual health testing providers, with our technology playing a vital role in the high-throughput testing process. 

As an organisation, we’re always looking for new ways to apply our technology to solve real problems for clinicians.

The point of care testing technology we’ve developed has a very specific use case for small numbers of at-risk patients.

If a clinician decides it’s beneficial, point of care sexual health testing could enable faster diagnosis, which may support timely prescribing and improve patient outcomes. It’s a new tool they can use to tackle the increasing number of patients with sexually transmitted infections. The vast majority of tests will still be processed in the same way they always have been, in labs.