Rare Disease Day: 28th February 2017
On the final day of February each year, Rare Disease Day is celebrated to raise awareness amongst the general public and decision-makers about rare diseases and the impact they have on people’s lives. This year the theme is research and the critical role it plays in improving the lives of those with a rare disease, whether that is through a cure, enhanced treated or providing more information into their condition.
A rare disease is one that defined by the amount of people diagnosed in a specific region based on its population. For example, in Europe, a disease is classed as rare if it affects less than 1 in 2000 while in the USA, a rare disease is one that affects fewer than 200,000 people at any given time.
Over 6000 rare diseases are categorised by a broad range of disorders and symptoms that vary not only from disease to disease but also from patient to patient, highlighting the significance and importance of research into these diseases.1
The slogan of this year’s campaign, ‘With research, possibilities are limitless,’ resonates highly with Randox Biosciences. As a global diagnostic company, we fully support this campaign to increase and promote research that is devoted to revolutionising healthcare for those with rare diseases. We commit up to 16% of turnover to research and development each year and currently over 20% of the world’s major laboratories are using products developed by Randox.
In particular, we have been developing and manufacturing antibodies, proteins and conjugates for over 30 years. Continual research and development in this area has enabled us to today offer an extensive portfolio of over 900 products for a multitude of R&D applications including more than 500 monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies and over 140 human recombinant proteins as well as antibody fragments (sdAb, scFv, Fab).
Our range of monoclonal and polyclonal antibody products are available against biochemical markers, drugs of abuse and drug residues for use in both research and pharmaceutical development. All of our antibodies are produced in sheep towards human and drug specific targets resulting in highly specific and sensitive antibodies suitable for a wide range of applications.
These products have also been developed for use in Randox Laboratories diagnostic kits, including our ELISA testing kits and patented Biochip Array Technology (BAT). With an investment of over £220 million, BAT has revolutionised the diagnostics industry by facilitating the detection of a wide range of analytes from a single sample.
Utilising our Evidence series of analysers, BAT has empowered Randox to introduce novel tests and pioneering technology to a wide range of markets including molecular diagnostics and drug development. Coupled with the cutting edge multiplex capabilities of BAT, this results in early and accurate information regarding a condition and enables well informed decisions to be made.
In addition to our off-the-shelf offering of over 380 biomarkers, we also provide a custom singleplex or multiplex biochip assay design, development and manufacturing service. Our expertise, highly specialised scientists and world-class ISO accredited manufacturing facilities, enable us to provide a tailored solution to a specific R&D or clinical requirement.
We are honoured to fully support Rare Disease Day and are dedicated to our ongoing research and development into an array of conditions in order to achieve our aim of improving diagnostics and as a result, health worldwide.
Join the campaign with us on Twitter and LinkedIn with the official hashtag, #RareDiseaseDay
1-Rare Disease Day