Grifols installs first-ever DG Reader Net analyzer in North America

Barcelona, Spain, March 22, 2021 - Grifols (MCE: GRF, MCE: GRF.P, NASDAQ: GRFS), a global leader in the development of plasma-derived therapies and leader in the development of innovative diagnostic solutions, today announced its first-ever installation in North America of the DG Reader Net semi-automated analyzer, used to facilitate pre-transfusion blood type compatibility testing. This platform, the newest addition to the company’s scalable solutions for blood banks, is now running at ThedaCare Medical Center-Wild Rose in Wisconsin.

Many small, specialized laboratories like ThedaCare Medical Center-Wild Rose work hard to offer high quality service in pre-transfusion testing with limited semi-automated solutions available to them, resulting in manual testing that could yield results more difficult to interpret or manage for record keeping and audits.

Compact and simple, DG Reader Net automates the reading and interpretation of DG Gel cards, a method that determines the presence of certain antigens in red blood cells and is used to indicate blood type compatibility. As a standalone solution, the DG Reader Net analyzer offers laboratories computer-assisted reading and interpretation of immunohematology (IH) tests with automatic results uploading to the Laboratory Information System. When paired with other Grifols testing platforms, DG Reader Net allows networks to standardize IH testing no matter the facility size.

Before the DG Reader Net was installed, care team members at ThedaCare Medical Center-Wild Rose had to read results and manually enter them into the system. Now, the DG Reader Net gives team members results in minutes, which is crucial for a Critical Access Hospital like ThedaCare Medical Center-Wild Rose where immediate responses for blood transfusions are needed.

“When our lab teams draw blood from a patient, we run a series of tests on that blood, and screen for antibodies, antigens, as well as determine the blood type,” said Rebecca Schultz, Blood Bank Key Operator, ThedaCare Medical Center-Wild Rose. “The DG Reader Net analyzer reads those results and exports everything to one centralized system. We believe it has the ability to minimize the potential for error and, due to its efficiency, creates additional time for our team members to provide care to our patients.”

“We’re proud to be able to implement a semi-automated, intuitive blood banking solution at ThedaCare, ultimately helping reduce the risk associated with manually entering results to the Laboratory Information System, thus increasing patient safety,” said James Martinec, Director, North America Marketing, Grifols Diagnostic Solutions. “No matter the size of the laboratory or Integrated Delivery Network, Grifols has a solution.”

About DG Reader Net

DG Reader Net is a semi-automated blood bank system that performs all the steps needed for the reading and reporting of processed DG Gel cards with only minimal user interaction. It has barcode identification of all facets of pre-transfusion testing, giving laboratories complete traceability of reagents, samples, tests, results and operators throughout the testing process. Working with both Wi-Fi or a standard Ethernet connection, the DG Reader Net can also be interfaced to a Laboratory Information System, allowing for validated results to be exported, reducing the need to enter results manually.

Easy to interpret and customizable for a wide range of laboratory needs, DG Gel cards are the only 8-column gel card featuring column agglutination technology (CAT) for blood group typing and investigating unexpected antibodies.

For more information, please visit https://www.diagnostic.grifols.com/en/semi-automated-systems.