Cepheid Announces Expansion Of Molecular C. Difficile Product

Cepheid (NASDAQ:CPHD) recently announced expansion of its Molecular C. Difficile Xpert assay. The company claims that this will simplify the detection of lethal Clostridium difficile strains through expanded reporting of binary toxin (CDT) gene.

C. difficile infections occur throughout the world. It is caused by the overgrowth of C. difficile bacteria due to exposure to antibiotics for the treatment of other illnesses. Binary toxin is produced by a number of C. difficile strains, including PCR-ribotype 027 (Nap1/BI) and other strains, associated with severe outcomes. Symptoms include watery diarrhea, fever, nausea and abdominal pain.

Over the last 16 years, C. difficile infections have been on the rise globally, garnering considerable clinical importance. According to The University of Western Australia, the presence of binary-toxin bacteria has been reported to increase severity, repetition and mortality of the disease. In addition, strains of C. difficile have been known to take a deadly shape when they are negative for the well known toxins A and B but positive for binary toxin. The company claims that the majority of the current versions of C. difficile tests fail to detect these cases accurately.

Xpert C. difficile BT is Cepheid's current Xpert C. difficile test, with modified result reporting that makes the additional information on the presence of binary toxin available. Xpert C. difficile BT is available in countries where it has received the CE mark. The test, compared to traditional testing methods, reduces days of empiric therapy and does not increase total cost of care in spite of the higher price per test. The qualitative detection of the C. difficile strains producing CDT with Cepheid’s Molecular C. Difficile testing product will provide valuable information.

As per a new report by Grand View Research, the global molecular diagnostic market is expected to reach a worth of over $17.9 billion by 2024, buoyed by the rising occurrence of communicable diseases. Cepheid mainly aims to offer molecular diagnostic testing of any patient specimen on a centralized or disseminated basis, thereby enabling medical providers to identify and treat diseases early, increasing opportunities to improve patients’ survival and quality of life.

Notably, the company’s performance has been praiseworthy recently in the domain of molecular testing. With the expansion of the Xpert C. difficile BT product portfolio, Cepheid would definitely be able to capture the growing market and boost its share in the billion-dollar molecular diagnostic market.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Cepheid currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Some other top ranked stocks in the medical product sector are GW Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:GWPH) , NuVasive, Inc. (NASDAQ:NUVA) and Quidel Corp. (NASDAQ:QDEL) . All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Confidential from Zacks

Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>>