• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Applied Biosystems Announces Commercial Availability of Rapid Avian Influenza Detection Kits in Europe, Asia and Africa

Posted on: Monday, 13 March 2006, 09:01 CST

Assay Can Be Run on More Than 1,400 Applied Biosystems Instruments in Public Health Laboratories across Europe, Asia and Africa

Applied Biosystems (NYSE:ABI), an Applera Corporation business, today announced the commercial availability in Europe, Asia, and Africa of its TaqMan(R) Influenza A/H5 Detection Kit, which is capable of rapidly and reliably detecting multiple strains of avian influenza in laboratory samples. This test is not currently available for sale in the United States.

Applied Biosystems' avian influenza kits can detect the presence of the avian influenza virus in as few as two and a half hours. In comparison, traditional cell culture testing takes from 2-10 days to confirm avian influenza infections. The Applied Biosystems kits include standardized reagents and an accompanying protocol run on real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction) platforms, a technology widely used by life science researchers.

"We are delivering on the European, Asian, and African public health community's call for an early warning system for avian influenza," said Lars Holmkvist, President of Applied Biosystems, Europe. "Applied Biosystems' detection kit can detect infected samples in a matter of hours, not days, thereby speeding the public health response to avian flu outbreaks."

The kits, which can detect a broad range of viral strains, have been tested for accuracy against recent samples of avian influenza in collaboration with the following laboratories:

-- Robert Koch Institute, Germany

-- Avian Influenza Reference Veterinary Lab, Italy

-- National Public Health Institute, Finland

-- Ministry of Agriculture, Turkey

"Due to the geographical variability and frequent mutation of the avian influenza virus, detection technologies need to be tested against as many samples from as many different regions as possible," stated Dr. Brunhilde Schweiger of the National Reference Center for Influenza at the Robert Koch Institute in Germany. "Based on tests performed in our lab for detection of the H5 virus and differentiation from other influenza viruses, we are confident that Applied Biosystems' assays can quickly detect currently circulating strains of the virus with a high degree of reliability."

The Applied Biosystems TaqMan(R) Influenza A/H5 Detection Kits, which are manufactured in Warrington, England, are commercially available in Europe, Asia and Africa and have already been shipped to public health departments and veterinary laboratories in many European countries, including Switzerland, Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland, as well as several countries in Africa and the Middle East.

Applied Biosystems currently has an installed base of over 1,400 real-time PCR platforms in public health laboratories across Europe, Asia, and Africa capable of running the avian influenza TaqMan(R) assay. Today's announcement is part of a broader Applied Biosystems international initiative to ensure that detection kits and up-to-date genomic data are available for priority epidemiology studies related to infectious disease threats.

To ensure availability of the kits in the event of an outbreak, Applied Biosystems intends to stockpile materials in the United Kingdom and Japan to enable a more rapid response to kit production and distribution.

Applied Biosystems Global Infectious Disease Identification Initiative

Through its global installed base of life sciences research systems, Applied Biosystems has been contributing toward public health preparedness and life science knowledge for nearly 25 years. The goal of Applied Biosystems' Global Infectious Disease Identification Initiative is to enable a comprehensive biosecurity infrastructure to help protect the public from emerging man-made and natural infectious disease threats, including avian influenza, anthrax, tularemia, plague, and other priority pathogens. By combining scientific expertise, genetic analysis systems and identification kit development with global distribution channels, Applied Biosystems intends to deliver standardized and reliable biosecurity solutions for infectious disease identification.

For Research Use Only. Not for Use in Diagnostic Procedures.

Applied Biosystems' influenza detection products are for research and epidemiological use only in countries outside of the United States. They have not been cleared or approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration or any other regulatory agency, or under the European IVD Directive, for human diagnostic or other clinical use, and are not intended and should not be used for human diagnostic or any other clinical purposes. TaqMan(R) Influenza A/H5 Detection Kits and Applied Biosystems' other influenza detection kits are not for sale in the United States.

About Applera Corporation and Applied Biosystems

Applera Corporation consists of two operating groups. The Applied Biosystems Group serves the life science industry and research community by developing and marketing instrument-based systems, consumables, software, and services. Customers use these tools to analyze nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), small molecules, and proteins to make scientific discoveries and develop new pharmaceuticals. Applied Biosystems' products also serve the needs of some markets outside of life science research, which we refer to as "applied markets," such as the fields of: human identity testing (forensic and paternity testing); biosecurity, which refers to products needed in response to the threat of biological terrorism and other malicious, accidental, and natural biological dangers; and quality and safety testing, for example in food and the environment. Applied Biosystems is headquartered in Foster City, CA, and reported sales of nearly $1.8 billion during fiscal 2005. The Celera Genomics Group is focused on discovery, development, and commercialization of diagnostic products as well as leveraging its proteomic, bioinformatic, and genomic capabilities to identify and validate drug targets, and is also seeking to advance therapeutic antibody and selected small molecule drug programs in collaboration with global technology and market leaders. Information about Applera Corporation, including reports and other information filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is available at http://www.applera.com, or by telephoning 800.762.6923. Information about Applied Biosystems is available at http://www.appliedbiosystems.com.

Applied Biosystems Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking. These may be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as "intends,""expects,""plans," and "should" among others. These forward-looking statements are based on Applera Corporation's current expectations. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for such forward-looking statements. In order to comply with the terms of the safe harbor, Applera Corporation notes that a variety of factors could cause actual results and experience to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include but are not limited to (1) rapidly changing technology could adversely affect demand for Applied Biosystems' products, and its business is dependent on development and customer acceptance of new products; (2) Applied Biosystems' sales are dependent on customers' capital spending policies and government-sponsored research; (3) potential liabilities related to the risk that the detection kits will not detect the organism they are intended to detect, or that they may incorrectly yield a positive result when the organism is not present in the sample tested; (4) risks associated with lawsuits, arbitrations, investigations, and other legal actions with private parties and governmental entities, particularly involving claims for infringement of patents and other intellectual property rights, and the possibility that Applied Biosystems may need to license intellectual property from third parties to avoid or settle such claims; and (5) other factors that might be described from time to time in Applera Corporation's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Applera does not undertake any duty to update this information, including any forward-looking statements, unless required by law.

Copyright(C) 2006. Applera Corporation. All rights reserved. Applied Biosystems and Celera are registered trademarks, Applera, and Celera Genomics are trademarks of Applera Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or certain other countries.

TaqMan is a registered trademark of Roche Molecular Systems, Inc.

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category