New Malaria Test, illumigene® Malaria, Sets a New Gold Standard for Diagnosis
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
Meridian Bioscience Collaborates With the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar to Launch Diagnostic Test up
to 80,000 Times More Sensitive Than Current Options
CINCINNATI, Jan. 26, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Meridian Bioscience, Inc.
(NASDAQ:VIVO) today announced that it has received the CE Mark
for illumigene(®) Malaria, a novel, highly accurate test developed by Meridian
with the technical assistance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) and Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, Senegal. The test is up to
80,000 times more sensitive at detecting the malaria parasite than conventional
tests, potentially revolutionizing malaria diagnosis and establishing a new gold
standard. Using innovative molecular LAMP technology, illumigene results are
available in under one hour, and the test is easy to use as it does not rely on
high level technical expertise. This is a major step forward for people with
malaria as faster, more accurate diagnoses should lead to prompt treatment and
better outcomes. illumigene Malaria will be distributed in the European, Middle
Eastern and African regions by Meridian Bioscience Europe and in additional
international markets by the Company's global distribution network.
Despite a 60% decline in malaria deaths since 2000, because of better prevention
and increased control measures, malaria is still one of the top three killers of
children worldwide claiming one life every minute of every day. Malaria is no
longer only a disease of sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia. Increasing
numbers of people emigrating from countries where malaria is endemic have
resulted in a higher incidence in Europe and the Middle East. The proportion of
imported malaria cases has increased during the last few years from 14% to 86%
in more recent studies. On pooling the reports, nearly 43% of malaria cases
registered in key European centers occurred in non-nationals. The rates of
malaria are much higher in settled immigrants who travel to visit friends and
relatives (VFRs) in their country of origin. They can account for up to 70% of
the cases in several reports and this increase highlights the need for better
diagnostic tools in both non-endemic and endemic countries.
"illumigene Malaria has the potential to change current practices. Faster and
more accurate diagnosis is vital in the fight against malaria. Earlier diagnosis
enables the correct treatment to be prescribed which leads to better clinical
outcomes for the person with malaria and keeps malaria treatments for the right
people. Because of submicroscopic parasitemia carriage among the populations, a
robust, sensitive and field community-deployable screening tool is needed to
track the malaria reservoir in pre-elimination regions. illumigene Malaria shows
this capacity," said Professor Daouda NDIAYE, Department of Parasitology-
Mycology, Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, Senegal.
Meridian Bioscience has worked actively with leading experts at the CDC and the
Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar during the development of illumigene
Malaria and collaborated with these organizations to design clinical trials.
Data from over 200 patients from Senegal validated the performance
of illumigene Malaria. The test demonstrated 100% sensitivity, but more
importantly, it also detected infected patients that were missed by conventional
methods for the identification of Malaria.
"Patient care is central to Meridian's work and we consider the needs of all
those involved in diagnosis when developing our products. Malaria remains one of
the most dangerous diseases in the world both in endemic and increasingly non-
endemic countries. illumigene Malaria delivers a high level of sensitivity
combined with a quick turnaround time and simple procedure, a combination of
attributes that have been lacking in this disease area. Malaria is the tenth
assay now available on our illumigene platform that is in use in nearly 1,500
institutions around the world. We are proud to be able to join the fight
against Malaria with our flagship illumigene molecular technology." said Mike
Shaughnessy, Executive Vice President and President of Meridian Global
Diagnostics.
Notes to Editors:
About Professor Daouda Ndiaye, PharmD, MsC, PhD
* Professor Ndiaye is Professor of Parasitology and Mycology and Director of
the Senegal African Centre for Excellence on Genomic and Infectious
Diseases, based at the University Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegal
* Professor Ndiaye gained his PhD from Harvard University and is currently a
visiting scientist at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health,
Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases
* Professor Daouda Ndiaye will be available for interview upon request.
About illumigene® Malaria & LAMP Technology
* illumigene Malaria is a diagnostic test for malaria developed by Meridian
Bioscience. It is a molecular test that uses Loop-Mediated Isothermal
Amplification (LAMP) technology to amplify DNA and detect the presence of
the Malaria parasite
* LAMP technology is isothermal and so can be used at room temperature without
the need to heat reagents or the material being tested, unlike the rapid
diagnostic tests currently used in Malaria which use polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) technology. illumigene Malaria does not require
refrigeration.
* Illumigene technology is simple, accurate and easy to use which means that
no specialist technical expertise is needed to use the test. Results are
available in under an hour.
* LAMP based illumigene tests are already used to diagnose infectious diseases
including C. difficile, whooping cough and Herpes Simplex Virus, where they
have proved highly accurate.
* Illumigene tests have been approved and used in other diseases for over 5
years.
About Meridian Bioscience, Inc
Meridian is a fully integrated life science company that develops, manufactures,
markets and distributes a broad range of innovative diagnostic test kits,
purified reagents and related products and offers biopharmaceutical enabling
technologies. Utilizing a variety of methods, these products and diagnostic
tests provide accuracy, simplicity and speed in the early diagnosis and
treatment of common medical conditions, such as gastrointestinal, viral and
respiratory infections. Meridian's diagnostic products are used outside of the
human body and require little or no special equipment. The Company's products
are designed to enhance patient well-being while reducing the total outcome
costs of healthcare. Meridian has strong market positions in the areas of
gastrointestinal and upper respiratory infections, serology, parasitology and
fungal disease diagnosis. In addition, Meridian is a supplier of rare reagents,
specialty biologicals and related technologies used by biopharmaceutical
companies engaged in research for new drugs and vaccines. The Company markets
its products and technologies to hospitals, reference laboratories, research
centers, diagnostics manufacturers and biotech companies in more than 70
countries around the world. The Company's shares are traded on NASDAQ's Global
Select Market, symbol VIVO. Meridian's website address
is www.meridianbioscience.com.
For news coverage on product information regarding illumigene® Malaria including
interview requests and images (photography of Professor Ndiaye's Senegal clinic
is available) please contact:
* For UK and pan-European: Sarah Herbert, Sarah.Herbert(at)mslgroup.com on
+44 203 219 8708
* For France: Barbara Joly - Barbara.Joly(at)mslfrance.com on +33 6 61 19 97 96
* For Spain: Lucia Sixto - lucia(at)marcodecomunicacion.com on +34 93 635 05 00
* For Italy: Antonella Di-Fatta - antonella.di-fatta(at)publicisconsultants.it on
+39 33 47 15 13 18
* For Saudi Arabia: Nahed Ashour - Nahed.ashour(at)cnc-communications.com on +971
50 820 8100
Contact: 513.271.3700
John A. Kraeutler, Chief Executive Officer
This announcement is distributed by GlobeNewswire on behalf of
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other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Meridian Bioscience, Inc. via GlobeNewswire
[HUG#1981210]
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 26.01.2016 - 13:30 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 446578
Anzahl Zeichen: 9396
contact information:
Town:
Cincinnati
Kategorie:
Business News
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