CORRECTED - CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-Cepheid backs view after critical article on
(Corrects to add dropped word "the" in journal name in paragraph 3. Also changes reference to MRSA in paragraph 6 to "a superbug.")
(Recasts, adds details, share movement)
March 12 (Reuters) - Cepheid Inc (CPHD.O), which makes tests to screen a drug-resistant bacteria, MRSA, backed its 2008 outlook on Wednesday, a day after a study published in a medical journal said widespread MRSA screening was not cost-effective for hospitals.
"We at Cepheid think that the implementation of such programs will continue in the U.S. and around the world. As such, we continue to be confident in the 2008 financial guidance...," CEO John Bishop said in a letter to shareholders.
On Tuesday, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study that said screening of patients for MRSA did not reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections. The study was conducted over a two-year period in a Swiss teaching hospital.
Bishop said, "Based upon the patient population as described in the article and the fact that the institution had already achieved an infection rate of less than 1 percent, the conclusions expressed in the article are not surprising."
However, applying the same conclusions to environments where the rates of infections may be in excess of 8 percent may be problematic, Bishop wrote in the letter.
MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is sometimes referred to as a "superbug." According to an article published in the same journal in October 2007, MRSA infections killed nearly 19,000 people in 2005 in the United States.
As of Dec. 31, 2007, Cepheid installed 247 GeneXpert Systems, its genetic test to detect MRSA, in the United States and 236 systems in Europe.
The genetic analysis systems maker expects 2008 net income of $3 million to $5 million, excluding certain items, and revenue of $182 million to $189 million.
Analysts' average revenue forecast is $188 million, according to Reuters Estimates.
Cepheid shares, which fell as much as 7 percent, recovered most of their losses and were down 41 cents at $23.39 in morning trade Wednesday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Jennifer Robin Raj in Bangalore; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
