IDEXX rolls out new in-clinic SDMA test

The symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) molecule. Image courtesy of IDEXX.IDEXX Laboratories has announced that it's rolling out the IDEXX Catalyst SDMA Test to all North American customers on January 16, enabling veterinarians who offer IDEXX point-of-care diagnostic services to add SDMA-a biomarker for renal disease-as an element of the routine chemistry profile.

The Catalyst SDMA Test can be added to any chemistry panel on IDEXX's Catalyst One and Catalyst Dx chemistry analyzers as part of the patient sample run, according to an IDEXX release. The full chemistry profile results, including SDMA, are available within minutes.

Additionally, IDEXX has signed a collaboration agreement with Yale University to explore SDMA's potential applications to human health, the company reports. As part of this partnership, the IDEXX SDMA Test was validated for accuracy in measuring SDMA in human blood samples, and the results were presented at the 2017 meeting of the American Society of Nephrology last November by Yale and IDEXX researchers. Future research with Yale will focus on the clinical utility of SDMA in human patients using the validated IDEXX SDMA Test.

IDEXX first launched the IDEXX SDMA Test at its reference laboratories in 2015. Since then it has run more than 12 million SDMA patient tests, creating the world's largest database on kidney disease in dogs and cats, the company states. The IDEXX SDMA Test can identify kidney disease earlier than creatinine, enabling veterinarians to intervene earlier to impact a patient's health outcomes and quality of life. SDMA has been incorporated into the veterinary profession's International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) kidney disease staging guidelines.

“We've seen great enthusiasm for the ability to run SDMA as part of the routine chemistry panel at the point of care, and preorders have exceeded our expectations,” says Jonathan Ayers, chairman and CEO of IDEXX Laboratories, in the company release. “The IDEXX SDMA Test represents one of the most significant diagnostic innovations in veterinary medicine in the last 30 years. … And with the IDEXX test technology now validated to be able to run on commercial chemistry systems that routinely produce chemistry results in human reference laboratories, we have greater reason to explore the clinical value of this incredible biomarker in human applications.”

For more information about the IDEXX Catalyst SDMA Test, visit idexx.com/catalystsdma.