science

Phadia

Phadia is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Phadia rather than just read about it. In short: Phadia develops, manufactures and markets blood test systems to support the clinical diagnosis and monitoring of allergy, asthma and autoimmune diseases. The company is headquartered in Uppsala, Sweden.

Key takeaways

Phadia belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Phadia to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Phadia from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Phadia develops, manufactures and markets blood test systems to support the clinical diagnosis and monitoring of allergy, asthma and autoimmune diseases. The company is headquartered in Uppsala, Sweden. It has been owned by Thermo Fisher Scientific since 2011.

History Originally part of the Pharmacia group of companies and an offshoot of the diagnostics division that developed out of Pfizer and Pharmacia & Upjohn (all Uppsala-based companies), Phadia was renamed in January 2006. The first steps towards the present Phadia AB were taken in the mid 1960s. Three scientists working at Uppsala University Hospital, Leif Wide, Rolf Axén and Jerker Porath, then presented their ideas to use Pharmacia's separation medium Sephadex as the solid phase in immunodiagnostics tests and proposed a collaboration with the company for the commercial development. Pharmacia's management decided to go for the project and established a special R&D group for diagnostics products. In 1970 Pharmacia's first product, Phadebas Amylase Test, a test for the enzyme alpha-amylase, was launched. At the same time an important medical discovery was made which would be of decisive importance to Phadia. In 1967 immunoglobulin E, or IgE, was discovered by two separate research teams, by Teruko and Kimishige Ishizaka in the US and by Gunnar Johansson and Hans Bennich at Uppsala University Hospital. Johansson and Bennich worked together with Wide to develop a method to measure the levels of the substance in blood samples. Eventually a clear connection was demonstrated between IgE antibodies and allergic symptoms. Johansson, Bennich and Wide then suggested that Pharmacia should use the findings to develop a commercial allergy test. This led to the ground-breaking product Phadebas RAST, which established the leading position that Phadia still maintains in the area of allergy testing.

Immunoglobulin E testing Since the discovery of IgE in 1967, Phadia has pioneered the development of in vitro test systems for allergy (immunoglobulin E). These IgE tests have been followed by tests for IgG and IgA antibodies, as well as other analytes with applications in asthma, celiac disease and autoimmunity. In addition, the ImmunoCAP testing system has revolutionized the level of automation and speed which these tests are processed. Based on the high binding capacity and solid phase technology, ImmunoCAP tests are both highly sensitive and highly specific.

See also Eczema Rhinitis Asthma Thyroid disease Diabetes Rheumatoid arthritis Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

References Saarinen U M, et al. Lancet 1995;346:1065-1069 De Backer. Am J Respir 1996;153:A336

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Phadia

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Phadia claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Phadia before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Phadia ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Phadia

In research: Phadia appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Phadia in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Phadia is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2011 mergers and acquisitions, Blood tests, Companies formerly listed on Nasdaq Stockholm, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Phadia outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Phadia in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Phadia means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Phadia out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Phadia in simple terms?

Why does Phadia matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Phadia?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Phadia.