Mission
Focus Diagnostics' mission is to be the early developer and market leader in innovative, high quality services for rare, unusual and emerging
infectious and immunologic diseases. They strive to exceed their customer expectations by delivering testing services, diagnostic products and
real-time actionable information and data solutions. Central to the company is a sustained commitment to quality, innovation, service and information.
History
Focus Diagnostics, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, has served the healthcare community for over
three decades as an innovative developer and provider of an array of specialized laboratory testing services oriented to the diagnosis of infectious
diseases. Focus also has a clinical trials program that supports vaccine and pharmaceutical development companies, and a manufacturing unit, both are separate from the clinical laboratory business.
Recognized today as a leader in the infectious disease community, the company was founded originally in 1978 as Microbiology Reference
Laboratory (MRL), a southern California reference laboratory that initially provided specialized laboratory tests for the diagnosis of
Legionnaires' disease. In 1983, a manufacturing unit was formed to make available high quality products originally developed for use in Focus Diagnostics' laboratory to hospitals and to commercial labs throughout the world. Today, as part of Quest Diagnostics, Focus provides expanded infectious disease laboratory testing services and a portfolio of new products recently launched or in development.
Since its founding Focus Diagnostics has evolved into a national reference laboratory that now serves as Quest Diagnostics’ infectious disease center of excellence and offers its clients over 1,200 infectious disease and autoimmune laboratory tests. It is often the first commercial laboratory to introduce new and innovative laboratory tests as was the case with H1N1 testing. Focus' reference laboratory clients include all major US reference laboratories, many major US medical schools as well as hundreds of community medical centers and many public health facilities. The laboratory is CLIA, CAP and ISO certified. Focus' ISO-certified in vitro diagnostics business includes many products originally developed for its reference laboratory that were subsequently transferred into a commercial product once market demand increased and other laboratory clients wished to internalize testing. Today its product line includes products for more than a dozen infectious diseases available in a variety of configurations ranging from kits to analyte specific reagents (ASR's). Focus' product portfolio includes leading products on the market for West Nile Virus and for Herpes Simplex Virus type-specific antibody detection, HerpeSelect®.
Focus has had a long history of developing new and innovative testing services and products. The Company has assembled a strong group of research and development scientists to continually fuel innovation. These efforts typically result in the development of as many as 50 new and/or improved laboratory assays and an average of 3 new products per year. In its quest to "beat the disease to the market", Focus Diagnostics has served as the initial entry point for many laboratory assays in the US including, but not limited to Lyme disease, human Parvovirus, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Hantavirus, West Nile Virus and SARS. Today Focus Diagnostics enjoys one of the best reputations in the industry as a market innovator, a provider of exceptional personal service, and a producer of high quality test results and products. As part of the Quest Diagnostics family, Focus is poised to be an even more vital contributor to the global healthcare community.
