Top US diagnostic lab to set up facility in Doha

By Ramesh Mathew/Staff ReporterA leading US diagnostic laboratory is opening a facility in Doha next year.AViiR, a renowned diagnostic laboratory in the USA, providing an array of revolutionary blood tests to identify causes of cardiovascular diseases, is setting up its first overseas facility in Doha.The hi-tech diagnostic laboratory in Doha, which would serve as a main feeder to some of the existing diagnostic facilities in the UAE, Saudi Arabia Jordan and Egypt, is coming into being as a joint venture between the AViiR and a company promoted by prominent Qatari national Dr Sheikh Khalid Jabor al-Thani, a former deputy chairman of the Qatar National Health Authority.The International Laboratory for Heart (Qatar) Company (ILH Qatar), as the proposed company is named, is the strategic partner of AViiR to distribute its diagnostic in Qatar and in the wider GCC/MENA region, and also in Turkey.  Informing this a few days ago, Dr Khalid Jabor said the new facility in Qatar would be the first of its kind anywhere in the Middle East and match its parent laboratory in Irvine, California possesses.“The new lab would go a long way in effectively providing vital solutions in the treatment of cardio-vascular ailments for the residents of Qatar, along with those of the four other countries from where it would receive preliminary blood tests,” said Dr Khalid Jabor, a widely respected citizen, who had also served at different levels and capacities, including as the under secretary in the Qatar Ministry of Health.Dr Khalid Jabor currently heads the Qatar National Cancer Society (QNCS).Elaborating on his ambitious plans Dr Khalid Jabor said what prompted him to undertake the challenge to bring such an established laboratory as AViiR to the country was the alarming rise in the number of cardiovascular diseases among its residents in the last few years. “Like in many other countries where heart attack is one of the main causes of mortality, also even in young age groups, there have been a number of incidents of Qatar residents falling victim to heart related ailments,” he said.According to studies, more than 17mn people die of heart ailments every year worldwide.  “In Qatar, such disorders as diabetes, obesity and hypertension are very common among the residents of late, and they constitute some of the leading risk factors commonly linked to cardio-vascular disease,” said Dr Khalid Jabor, quoting studies made by Dr Douglas Harrington, CEO of AViiR, who was also present in the meeting.Dr Harrington has about three decades of experience in the commercialisation of healthcare technologies. A medical graduate from the University of Colorado, and a bachelor in molecular biology from the University of California, Dr Harrington is a clinical professor of pathology and laboratory medicine in the Universities of Southern California and Nebraska. Prevention, said Dr Khalid Jabor, is one of the priorities of Qatar in terms of health policies and the AViiR test is one of the tools to implement such vision and policy by providing support and potentially having a meaningful impact on the populations at risk.Dr Harrington said many diagnostic tests developed over the past few decades have turned out to be too inadequate to meeting the actual requirements of patients. “Hence, there is a strong need to diagnose and prevent the risk of cardiovascular diseases at different levels,” he said while adding that such diagnostic approaches have costly consequences, humanly and financially at family and country levels alike.The AViiR CEO said his company has developed a blood test to identify more precisely the risks for a patient to face one of the most common causes of cardiovascular disease and such a test could assess the risk of a cardiovascular event to occur within a 5-year timeframe.Answering a query, Dr Harrington said the research and development efforts of AViiR are backed by global pharmaceutical company, MERCK, and the lab’s team relies on the foundation work of frontline scientists from the well-known Stanford University in the USA.The AViiR CEO said the new company’s objective is to deploy the AViiR test in the areas identified for its operations in the GCC, including Qatar, and Turkey within a short time frame and make its services available to the region’s patients’ community. He said the roll out of ILH(Qatar) should take the form of stand alone labs or dedicated “lab corners” within the well-known hospitals and clinics throughout Qatar and the region.