Innovation in the Era of Diagnostic Excellence

As we enter 2026—and mark three decades since Cepheid’s founding in 1996—I have been reflecting on what innovation should look like in the era of diagnostic excellence.

Since its earliest days, Cepheid has designed diagnostics that consistently produce actionable answers and enable clinicians to act with confidence. Under the outstanding scientific and clinical leadership of Dr. David Persing, the company adopted a focused approach to product development – prioritizing simplicity, reliable answers, broad menu, and access. The result has been breakthroughs that translated directly to better care.

Moving forward, we are building on this legacy with four guiding principles to help us optimize innovation in this era of diagnostic excellence.

Precise: Solve unmet needs—and improve what already exists

Precision means reducing uncertainty—not adding data for its own sake.

Precision begins by asking, ‘Where are patients and clinicians still underserved?’ Sometimes the answer requires revolutionary advances that push into unmet clinical territory; other times it calls for evolutionary improvements where we can meaningfully reduce ambiguity, cost, or workflow friction in widely used testing. In gastrointestinal and respiratory diagnostics, stewardship leaders have highlighted ongoing questions about optimal panel breadth, interpretation of colonization versus infection, and the clinical utility of syndromic mega-panels versus more focused menus with meaning. Our product approach is to pair clinically coherent target sets with reporting that clarifies action—reducing uncertainty rather than adding data for its own sake.

At Cepheid, that precision is enabled by Lab in a Cartridge™ engineering that automates sample extraction, PCR amplification, and detection—consistently, across care settings—so improvements in test design translate into reliable answers in practice (Learn more).

Perspective: Listen before doing and step into the process

Listening and engaging at the source turns innovation into solutions that work in practice.

Innovation must start with perspective: listening to laboratorians, clinicians, patients, and public health partners before we build. Within Danaher, this mindset is anchored in continuous improvement, humility, and a commitment to go where the work happens to understand problems in context and co-create solutions. When we embed that discipline, we design for the total testing process (ordering, collection, analysis, reporting, interpretation)—not just the instrument or test—and we uncover the small changes that remove friction and speed the test-to-treatment journey.

p values: Commit to evidence—generate and share it

Evidence is our compass—every innovation must prove its value in patient outcomes.

‘p values’ is my tongue-in-cheek label for a serious promise: we will take an evidence-based approach, and we will help grow the evidence base that clinicians need. Diagnostic stewardship guidance—from SHEA and the CDC’s Core Elements of Hospital Diagnostic Excellence—reminds us that outcomes improve when the right test is ordered for the right patient, and the right action follows. To make that real, we will continue to publish, measure, and learn post-launch, focusing on test performance, diagnostic yield, antimicrobial utilization, turnaround times, and patient outcomes across diverse care settings. At IDWeek^TM 2025, for example, colleague Jordan Chase and team presented data regarding how stewardship-aligned GI testing can reduce unnecessary antibiotic use and improve isolation protocols—evidence that informs our design and implementation strategies.

Partnership: Collaborate and co-create

Global health challenges demand global partnerships.

Innovation is a team sport, and Cepheid thrives on partnerships that elevate purpose into impact. One standout collaboration is with the Fleming Initiative—a global coalition led by Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Cepheid is the first diagnostic company to join, committing resources to collaborative scientific and clinical research aimed at expanding the use of in vitro diagnostics in AMR stewardship programs. This work includes initiatives like active screening for carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae and community-based testing for acute respiratory infections—underscoring our pillars of broad menu and access in real-world settings.

The FDA clearance of our gastrointestinal syndromic panel  is proof positive of the power of these principles. It is designed to reduce diagnostic ambiguity for common and consequential enteric pathogens, to report in ways that guide action, and to run within consistent workflows on Cepheid’s trusted GeneXpert® platform. This regulatory clearance marks a milestone in a portfolio of innovations tailored for the diagnostic stewardship era. We will continue to apply precise design choices, grounded in perspective, backed by p-value rigor, and strengthened by partnerships that accelerate adoption and learning. That is how innovation serves stewardship—and patients.

As we celebrate 30 years of building ‘A Better Way’ in molecular diagnostics, my commitment as Chief Medical Officer is that we will keep innovating with intent: making diagnostics simpler to use, reliably actionable, broad enough to matter, and accessible where care decisions happen. That is stewardship-driven innovation—and it is how we will measure our impact in 2026 and beyond.

Connie Savor is an infectious diseases physician and healthcare executive with decades of experience in clinical practice, health system leadership, and diagnostic innovation. As Cepheid’s Chief Medical Officer, she champions evidence-based solutions that advance patient care and global health.