Diagnostic device delivers same-day STI test results

Diagnostics group Cepheid says a new high-tech sexual health clinic will be able to offer test results in hours, thanks to its device

The 10 Hammersmith Broadway sexual health clinic in London has been opened by the same team that established the Dean Street Express, a sexual health clinic in London's Soho district.

Dean Street Express has been challenging the model for sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing and public health since it opened its doors in February 2014, according to Cepheid.

10 Hammersmith Broadway and Dean Street Express offer a drop-in service and high throughput testing on site for a number of STIs, including CT/NG, HIV, and syphilis.

Like Dean Street Express, the 10 Hammersmith Broadway clinic uses Cepheid's GeneXpert System.

Testing with the GeneXpert Infinity system is completed entirely on-site, significantly reducing the time to diagnosis, and delivering accurate results that can be shared with patients in hours, rather than days to weeks, according to the firm.

The 10 Hammersmith Broadway clinic is the new home for the West London Centre for Sexual Health.

The Dean Street Express clinic has screened over 200,000 patients in the past two years, and has received a Service Excellence Award from Cepheid.

"The innovative, patient-focused clinics Dean Street Express and 10 Hammersmith Broadway deliver actionable information in a way that is transformative for patients at risk for STIs," said David Persing, Cepheid's chief medical and technology officer.

"Patients appreciate getting their negative results back quickly, and the clinicians are happy with the short time to positive results because they can often avoid empiric therapy.

“Healthcare professionals know that if they treat early and effectively, they can reduce or even prevent complications of STIs and intercept subsequent transmission events."