With cases of antibiotic-resistant MRSA multiplying and fear of the superbug rising, Cepheid was perfectly positioned when it came out with a rapid genetic screening test. Sales have soared as Cepheid has reaped the benefits of new programs that use the screening test to identify MRSA and isolate patients. But as a profile of the company in The New York Times makes clear, the test has spurred controversy over the best way to combat MRSA. Rather than test and isolate patients, critics contend hospitals would be better off if they stuck with hospital-wide campaigns to ward off the bug with regular hand washing campaigns and other such tactics. Meanwhile, as Times scribe Andrew Pollack points out, companies such as Gen-Probe, Roche and Qiagen are advancing their own tests. Cepheid may not have this market to itself very much longer.
- read the article from the New York Times
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