This comprehensive new medical compendium commemorates ten years of Sebia’s excellence in the field of hemoglobin separation using capillary electrophoresis

Sebia, a market leader in protein electrophoresis and tests for the diagnosis of hemoglobin disorders, announces today the debut of its Hemoglobins Atlas. This tool, which has been developed for the first time, is dedicated to helping Sebia’s capillary electrophoresis users orientate their diagnosis of hemoglobinopathies.
 
Hemoglobin electrophoresis is an established technique routinely used in clinical laboratories for screening samples for hemoglobinopathies (hemoglobin variants and thalassemia). The assay is based on the principle of capillary electrophoresis in free solution.
 
Sebia’s capillary electrophoresis technology allows fast and efficient separation of hemoglobin fractions and detection of the major hemoglobin variants and thalassemia patterns. The high sensitivity and specificity offered by capillary electrophoresis makes it a reliable first line screening method.
 
To mark the tenth year of this Sebia technology, the company has developed the hemoglobin Atlas as a go-to reference compendium. The Hemoglobins Atlas demonstrates how Sebia is a key lab partner. As an interactive educational CD-Rom, the Atlas will help laboratories to increase their diagnostic knowledge of hemoglobinopathies.
 
The Atlas is dedicated to the Sebia customers who use the Capillarys and Minicap instruments. The instruments perform sequences automatically, from sampling to final clear-cut profile, with precise quantification, exceptionally sharp separation and presumptive identification of the most common hemoglobins.
 
Professor Piero Giordano,Emeritus associated professor and clinical biochemical molecular geneticist at Leiden University medical center in the Netherlands, has collaborated as scientific counselor on all of the research data. He also helped to develop the content.
 
“As an interactive educational aid, the Atlas will cover as many variants as possible, from common to rare and in variable genotype combinations,” said Professor Giordano. “Presumed risk information is also included. If a lab result ends up in the files without any preventive follow up, the diagnostic efforts of the lab will have been wasted. For this reason we are now sharing all of the relevant confirmed and frequent patterns that are associated with severe diseases.”
 
“Our customers will find the new Atlas a valuable companion in deciding how and when to confirm their provisional findings, either with a simple sickle test or with molecular diagnosis,” said Benoit Adelus, Sebia president and CEO. “We aim to keep this Atlas interactive by offering constant updates. Soon we will also provide extranet access for Sebia customers.”
 
The Sebia Hemoglobins Atlas will be updated with new cases on a regular basis. All Sebia users are invited to contribute to the enrichment of the Atlas database by sharing their collection of capillary electrophoresis profiles displaying rare hemoglobin variants with their Sebia representative.
 
Sebia enjoys an ongoing collaboration with Professor Giordano. Plans for the next version of the Atlas are already underway. The second edition will provide more case studies and additional user-friendly features.

About Hemoglobinopathies
Hemoglobinopathies are the most common monogenic disease in humans. Around 7 per cent of the worldwide population are carriers and 2.7 per 1,000 conceptions are affected by hemoglobinopathies.
Hemoglobin disorders are traditionally endemic among populations originating from Southern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Due to migrant populations, virtually all countries now face a broad spectrum of Hemoglobinopathies traits that can’t be pre-selected by blood count sample screening. Although capillary electrophoresis provides excellent sensitivity and specificity for the detection of common hemoglobin variants (e.g. HbS, Hb C, Hb D, Hb E, etc.), rare variants migrating in the same positions of the common ones can be also be detected. These also need to be characterized.

About Sebia
Sebia develops, manufactures and commercializes protein electrophoresis tests and analyzers dedicated to the in vitro diagnosis of cancer, inflammatory, diabetes and hemoglobin disorders.
Sebia’s focus on electrophoresis techniques allows a sustained R&D program, providing access to genuine evolution to any type of labs. Both agarose gel and capillary assays and their dedicated automation are designed to be integrated into the same routine workflow, for gel (ASSIST, HYDRASYS 2 Scan) and for capillary electrophoresis (CAPILLARYS 2, MINICAP).
In 2011 Sebia introduced CAPILLARYS 2 Flex Piercing, the most advanced capillary technology, providing a high level of performance and walk-away automation. Tests include serum proteins, urine proteins, immunotyping, high-resolution electrophoresis, CDT measurement and hemoglobinopathy screening for whole blood in primary capped tubes.
Sebia has diversified its recent activity in the field of diabetes, to fulfill the growing worldwide demand for more accurate and reproducible methods for HbA1c measurement. Sebia now offers a clearcut and precise HbA1c test on Capillarys and Minicap and will soon launch its new Capillarys 3 program.

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