Photo by Graham Colm
Blood samples
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ID CORE XT, a molecular-based assay used to determine blood donor and recipient compatibility.
ID CORE XT is a qualitative, polymerase chain reaction-based and hybridization-based genotyping test.
It is used for the simultaneous identification of multiple alleles encoding human erythrocyte antigens in genomic DNA extracted from whole blood specimens collected in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid.
The test genotypes 29 polymorphisms determining 37 human erythrocyte antigen phenotypes of 10 blood group systems—Rh, Kell, Kidd, Duffy, MNS, Diego, Dombrock, Colton, Cartwright, and Lutheran.
ID CORE XT is the second molecular assay approved by the FDA for use in transfusion medicine and the first to report genotypes as final results.
The approval of ID CORE XT was granted to Progenika Biopharma S.A., a Grifols company.
According to Progenika, ID CORE XT will benefit patients who require ongoing transfusions, such as individuals with hemoglobinopathies.
ID CORE XT can also be used for cancer patients who require more thorough blood typing, patients with warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia, and patients taking daratumumab.
“The approval of the ID CORE XT test can streamline blood compatibility testing and provides an additional alternative to testing blood with antisera,” said Peter Marks, MD, PhD, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
In a study published in Blood Transfusion this year, typing results with ID CORE XT were similar to results obtained with serology and molecular methods.
Researchers said there was 100% agreement between the positive results predicted by ID CORE XT and results obtained via serology (100% sensitivity).
For negative results, there was one discrepancy for E antigen (99.9% agreement) and 33 discrepancies for Fyb antigen (95.5% agreement). However, additional testing suggested that serology produced 34 false-negatives.
Both positive and negative results with ID CORE XT were in full agreement with results obtained via molecular methods (100% sensitivity and specificity).