Magellan Diagnostics

"Point-of-care lead testing means everybody wins. 3 minutes. 2 drops of blood. 1 visit. Zero loose ends." In the company's own words, that is the significance of Magellan's flagship product, the LeadCare® II blood lead analyzer.

Lead poisoning threatens millions of people, particularly children, yet is entirely preventable. The ability to test children in real time during routine check-ups is crucial; if a blood sample has to be sent out to a lab for analysis, any follow-up may either be delayed or not occur at all. But with LeadCare^® II, the paediatrician can know within three minutes of taking a finger-prick whether a patient is affected by dangerous levels of lead, and take immediate action while the child is still present.

Recognising, though, that many practices do still rely on outside services for lead testing, the company also markets the LeadCare^® Plus™ and LeadCare^® Ultra systems to clinical laboratories for medium- and high-throughput analysis of blood samples.

Abingworth role

In November 2006, Abingworth led a $50 million financing in what was then called Magellan Biosciences, which consisted of the lead-testing business described above and Dynex Technologies, a global supplier of automated instrumentation and consumables for immunoassays. The financing enabled Magellan to purchase TREK Diagnostics Inc, of Cleveland, Ohio. The TREK business was divested in 2012, at which time Magellan Diagnostics and Dynex Technologies were re-established as separate companies. Magellan Diagnostics was acquired by Meridian Bioscience in March 2016. Abingworth continues to serve on the board of Dynex.