GCAL® Calprotectin - From insights to impact - April 2026

Continuing the GCAL® journey: calprotectin's power to assess inflammation

The first quarter has brought important milestones, new team members, and exciting scientific progress. We look forward to continuing our growth and further advancing the clinical use of circulating calprotectin and the Gentian GCAL^® Calprotectin Immunoassay.

In this newsletter, we will: 

• highlight our presence at upcoming conferences

• introduce a new customer story

• showcase fresh clinical evidence

• share key updates from our team

Upcoming conferences in 2026

This year, we are pleased to announce our presence at two key international congresses; Autoimmunity 2026 and PReS 2026.

Please do reach out if you would like to meet up or if you have collaborators or customers attending these conferences who we should connect with. We also encourage you to identify relevant conferences and meetings in your region and reach out to explore joint events or co-presence opportunities.

Autoimmunity 2026 – Prague, May 14-17^th

We are looking forward to attending the International Congress on Autoimmunity in Prague in May. This meeting brings together leading experts in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and represents an excellent opportunity to connect with clinicians and researchers at the forefront of the field.
We will be present with our team at booth #31.

We are also pleased to present the poster (Abstract Number: 892) ‘’Serum calprotectin in pediatric inflammation: a cross-disease comparison’’ on Sunday 17^th, reporting data in collaboration with University of Zagreb.
   

PReS 2026 – Belgrade, September 16-19^th

Later in the year, we will be present at the Paediatric Rheumatology European Society (PReS) Annual Congress in Belgrade in September. PReS continues to be a highly relevant meeting for calprotectin with high awareness in the paediatric rheumatology community, following the EULAR/PReS recommendation of calprotectin in the diagnosis of Still's disease.

We anticipate strong engagement from the paediatric rheumatology community and look forward to sharing the latest data from clinical studies with delegates.

New customer story

24/7 calprotectin testing at Motol University Hospital, Prague

We are delighted to share our latest GCAL customer story and in-depth interview, featuring Motol University Hospital in Prague - one of the largest university hospitals in Europe, serving close to 900,000 patients each year across adult and paediatric care.

  Image courtesy of Motol University Hospital 

By implementing GCAL^® on the Beckman Coulter AU680 chemistry analyser, Motol has achieved fully automated 24/7 calprotectin testing available as a STAT test to all hospital departments. Calprotectin is now offered alongside routine markers from a single sample, supporting clinical decision-making from the emergency department to rheumatology and paediatric care.

As Assoc. Prof. Tomáš Milota, Head of Immunology, puts it:

"Being able to measure calprotectin together with other routine markers on a fully automated chemistry analyser allows us to use it in real clinical practice, both in acute and chronic settings."

Read the full interview with Prof. Milota here.  

New clinical evidence

March was a particularly exciting month for calprotectin in critical care and emergency medicine, with two important contributions to the evidence base. Together, these two data sets reinforce calprotectin's growing role in critical care, not only as a diagnostic tool, but as a guide to treatment decisions in some of the most acutely ill patient groups.
  

INSPIRE trial published in The Lancet Regional Health

A newly published randomised phase II trial - the INSPIRE study - explored a precision medicine approach for patients hospitalised with pneumonia at risk of progressing to organ dysfunction.

Patients were treated with standard of care plus either placebo or Anakinra (an IL-1 inhibitor), with the goal of determining whether early biomarker-guided intervention could improve outcomes.

A post-hoc analysis within the trial examined the role of circulating calprotectin, measured using the GCAL^® assay, and the results are compelling.

• Elevated baseline calprotectin identified patients at higher risk for poor outcomes

• Calprotectin levels dropped as early as Day 2 in Anakinra-treated patients, making it a sensitive, early signal of treatment response, ahead of other markers

This dual utility, both selecting the right patients and monitoring whether therapy is working, positions calprotectin as a meaningful tool in precision medicine for severe infections.

Read full story here

Read the publication: Efficacy of anakinra in reducing progression to organ dysfunction in patients with pneumonia (INSPIRE): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase IIa trial

ImmunoSep data presented at ISICEM 2026, Brussels

Results from a post-hoc analysis of the ImmunoSep randomised clinical trial were presented at the International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (ISICEM) in Brussels, by investigators from the Hellenic Institute for the Study of Sepsis.

The analysis evaluated calprotectin, measured using the GCAL^® assay, as a biomarker to improve immune dysfunction classification in sepsis patients.

• A threshold of 7.75 mg/L (determined using ROC analysis) for calprotectin could reliably distinguish patients with known immune dysfunction phenotypes (MALS or sepsis‑induced immunoparalysis) from those without these conditions

• Notably, among patients who had calprotectin levels at or above this threshold and received precision immunotherapy, 28‑day mortality was around 50% lower compared with those who received standard care alone

 Read full story here. 

New faces in the GCAL® team

It is a pleasure to welcome Anne and Anders on board, and we look forward to the energy and expertise they bring to our continued product development and partner support.

Anne Omholt – GCAL® Product Manager 

Anne Omholt joined us in March as our new Global Product Manager for GCAL^®. She has over 20 years in IVD product management, commercialisation, and sales enablement across the Nordic and European markets.

Anders Alarcon – Business Manager, Europe

Anders Alarcon joined Gentian in early 2025 and will now take on the role of Regional Business Manager for Europe. He has over 20 years experience from Pharmaceutical and IVD sales across Nordic and European markets.

GCAL® - Plasma & serum calprotectin: Easy implementation in routine

The GCAL^® assay is designed for the quantitative determination of calprotectin in plasma and serum, intended as an aid in detection and assessment of inflammation and inflammatory response to infections. As the first turbidimetric assay available since 2019, GCAL^® offers distinct advantages:

• Advanced technology: PETIA assay on clinical chemistry platforms using avian antibodies, which minimises interference from rheumatoid factor and HAMA antibodies
• Versatility: Compatible with a wide range of automated clinical chemistry analysers
• Regulatory compliance: CE-marked in compliance with IVDR 2017/746 (CE 0123) and registered in multiple regions*
• Ready-to-use format: Complete kit components - including calibrators and dedicated controls - are available in two sizes to meet the needs of both small and high-volume laboratories
  
  

Let’s talk about GCAL®

Interested in implementing GCAL^® in your laboratory or clinical setting? Share your details and we will contact you to discuss next steps.

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