The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have cleared the Verax Biomedical manufactured Platelet PGD Test System for marketing.

Platelet PGD Test System is the first rapid test for the detection of bacterial contamination in pooled platelets derived from whole blood. Patients who are transfused with contaminated platelets bear the risk of developing serious infections. It is therefore important to detect and interdict such contamination before transfusion. 

The Platelet PGD Test System consists of a single-use test strip that, in fewer than 60 minutes, produces a signal that indicates the presence of bacteria.  The test is intended for use mainly by hospital transfusion services as a quality control test for the detection of bacteria just prior to a patient blood transfusion.