Arup Laboratories Inc, a national, specialty diagnostic reference laboratory, announced that it is now offering antiretroviral drug resistance testing for HIV-1 in partnership with Tibotec-Virco, an international biotechnology company specializing in drug discovery, molecular diagnostics, and pharmacogenomics. Under the agreement, ARUP will offer Tibotec-Virco's VirtualPhenotype assay, which combines genotypic information with a quantitative prediction of phenotypic resistance.

Current treatment for HIV-1 infected individuals includes the use of combination antiretroviral drug therapy to suppress HIV-1 replication and decrease disease progression, thereby improving clinical status. Despite advancements in HIV-1 drug therapy, treatment failures are commonly seen because of pre-existing or selected drug-resistant viral strains.

The genotypic and phenotypic assays now offered by ARUP, including the VirtualPhenotype assay, allow clinicians to predict HIV drug resistance. Specifically, the VirtualPhenotype system compares a patient's viral sequence to more than 17,000 samples with matched phenotypic and genotypic information to determine which drugs can actively fight that particular viral strain. The VirtualPhenotype test is the only quantitative approach available for predicting HIV resistance from genotypic information.

"We are very pleased to enhance our test portfolio with Tibotec-Virco's HIV drug resistance testing services, which we believe are among the most advanced and comprehensive available," said David Hillyard, Medical Director of Molecular Infectious Diseases for Arup Laboratories.

Resistance testing can be used as a guide for treating patients who are failing therapy and in HIV-infected pregnant women. It should be considered for treating patients with established and primary infection. The determination of resistance mutations before beginning therapy may also be helpful in designing more effective treatment regimens for patients.

"We hope that this partnership with Arup will have a positive impact on the treatment outcome for people living with HIV and AIDS," commented Wim Swyzen, Regional Managing Director for Virco USA & Canada. "We are delighted that ARUP will help us expand the distribution of these important services in the United States."