Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (Nasdaq: OCDX), one of the world's largest pure-play in vitro diagnostics companies, today announced its VITROS^® Immunodiagnostic Products IL-6 Reagent Pack, the latest addition to Ortho's VITROS^® Critical Care menu, is now available in EU Countries, U.K. and several ASPAC and LATAM countries.*

Results from Ortho's IL-6 assay can be used to help health care teams detect and evaluate inflammatory diseases, including auto-immune disorders, sepsis and cases of severe respiratory infections from COVID-19 and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in critically ill patients. IL-6 is gaining utility in the evaluation of the most severe forms of respiratory distress, one of the causes of poor outcomes for patients suffering inflammatory diseases.  Further, Ortho's new IL-6 assay offers earlier detection of inflammation than CRP (c-reactive protein) and is a cost-effective diagnostic complement to PCT (procalcitonin) testing, both of which help monitor the body's inflammatory response in severely ill patients.ⁱ

"Ortho continues to bring to market solutions, like our latest IL-6 assay, that help health care teams confidently make treatment decisions sooner—especially in the critical care setting when time is of the utmost importance," said Ivan Salgo, M.D., head of medical, clinical and scientific affairs, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics.

The performance of the VITROS IL-6 test is enhanced by the proprietary technologies and benefits only available on VITROS® Systems, building trust with performance:

• INTELLICHECKÒ Technology monitors, verifies and documents diagnostic checks throughout sample and assay processing for accurate and efficient reporting.
• MicroSensor Technology provides automatic hemolysis detection-quantitation; helps in managing poor quality samples; reports results faster with confidence by only flagging impacted tests
• MicroWell Technology combined with our enhanced chemiluminescence detection technology improves signal detection with outstanding precision and wide dynamic range.
• Disposable Tips for samples and reagents avoids risk of false positive results caused by cross contamination.

The IL-6 test can be run on the VITROS XT 7600 and 5600 Integrated systems, and the VITROS 3600 and ECi/ECiQ Immunodiagnostics Systems. VITROS Systems deliver consistently fast, accurate, reliable results and operational simplicity with the ability to load while running with excellent reagent/calibration stability.

Ortho's comprehensive critical care menu also includes tests for hs Troponin, NT-pro BNP, Ferritin, CRP, D-dimer, Lactate, and PCT.