The Spanish company based at Espaitec, the Scientific, Technological and Business Park of Universitat Jaume I, has earned Performance Tested Method approval from the AOAC Research Institute for its Legipid® Bioalarm Legionella for the detection of Legionella pneumophila in waters. The approval was granted after extensive independent evaluation. Biótica's newly-approved test for Legionella pneumophila (AOAC-RI 111101) is a fast, economic and simple immuno-magnetic analysis that revolutionizes the risk assessment of this pathogenic bacterium in water bodies.
Biótica, Bioquímica Analítica, S.L., is an innovating technology-based company (ITBC), which develops fast techniques for the microbiological detection and quantification, based on the combination of molecules recognition, like antibodies, with advanced nanomaterials, like paramagnetic particles.
Guillermo Rodríguez, Biotica's Chief Scientist, has stood out the importance of the international certification from AOAC, since it is obtained after an intense technical evaluation on a third independent party. "Legionella pneumophila is one of the main agents causing a serious kind of pneumonia called Legionnaires’ Disease, with elderly and immuno-compromised people most at risk. L. pneumophila is the major cause of sporadic and outbreak of legionellosis (91.5%). About 5-15% of cases prove fatal".
Rodríguez has explained that "The AOAC Research Institute (AOAC RI) awarded the Company Performance Tested MethodsSM (PTM) certification for the rapid detection of L. pneumophila. The AOAC provides an independent third-party evaluation of methods and will award PTM certification to methods that demonstrate performance levels equivalent or better than other bacteria determining methods. The Legipid® Bioalarm Legionella underwent hundreds of individual tests over several months to earn AOAC RI's certification for the detection of Legionella; including evaluations of sensitivity, specificity, ease of use, documentation, ruggedness and efficiency. This extensive evaluation by the AOAC RI included rigorous independent testing and thorough reviews by its expert examiners. This evaluation process resulted in Biótica being awarded the prestigious AOAC RI Certificate of Performance Testing".
The test detects this bacterium in minutes, not days, and at a significant per test cost savings when compared to any other conventional method. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that the incidence of Legionellosis is increasing. Thus, rapid and simple detection of these disease causing pathogens in water is critical to the health and safety prevention.