Abbott targets lab managers to buy AxSYM immunoassay system - Abbott Laboratories

Health Industry Today, August, 1993

Abbott laboratories, Abbott Park, Ill., introduced two new products designed to improve workflow in clinical laboratories, including the AxSYM immunoassay system and the Abbott Maestro workstation, its latest entry in the steadily growing $2 billion immunology market.

The company is targeting lab managers at hospitals, clinical labs and reference labs as prime prospects for the products, available in early 1994.

AxSYM, priced at $124,000, is designed to help medium- and high-volume clinical laboratories process many immunodiagnostic tests simultaneously, as well as add tests while the instrument is running. AxSYM also can interface with Abbott's other "X-Family" instruments.

AxSYM will address the shortage of skilled medical technologists, whose numbers have been dropping since the mid-1980s, by offering increased automation. AxSYM will come with a single instrument that provides continuous access, random access and STAT interrupt capabilities, along with a broad menu of other tests.

Abbott Maestro, priced at $38,000, is designed to cut the time laboratory technicians spend recording, reporting and sending reports to physicians. Maestro eliminates the step of transcribing test results by hand and transferring them to a laboratory information system. The workstation interfaces with as many as eight Abbott analyzers, which transmit output directly to the workstation. Maestro comes with a modem to allow data collection from remote sites.

Abbott will use its 700 sales representatives to sell the products, and will attend the larger trade shows related to labs. Abbott will offer standard financial options, including rental agreements.