Latest News
New Distributors – A number of new Distributors have recently started working with Biotec Laboratories, including those from countries such as Bulgaria, Italy, Portugal and Zambia. Check Distributor page for details.
Product Registration update – Registration processes have been started for the FASTPlaqueTBTM and the Cerytec Blood Grouping products in Brazil and Mexico. New registrations will shortly be opened in other South American countries.
Events in 2007:
MEDICA 2007 – Germany
39th International Trade Fair with Congress
World Forum for Medicine
Internet: http://www.medica.de
Biotec Laboratories will be exhibiting at Medica 2007, Europe’s largest medical and healthcare exhibition.
The event at the Messe Centre in Dusseldorf will take place from the 14-17th November, 2007.
Visit us in Hall 1 Stand F18.
Please contact us if you wish to book an appointment.
CErytec - a new name in quality blood typing!
Biotec is proud to announce the launch of its brand new CErytec range of blood grouping reagents!
The CErytec brand is the new CE Marked line of monoclonal products specially manufactured by Biotec and compliant with the requirements of the European directive 98/79/EC. Products include ABO, Anti-D and Rh/Hr reagents.
In developing this new high quality range, Biotec has responded to increasing demand from both within the European Community and from other countries wishing to ensure the quality of reagents used in their laboratories.
The new Product List consists of:
1/008iCE Anti-A CErytec 10ml
1/018iCE Anti-B CErytec 10ml
1/038iCE Anti-D IgG/IgM CErytec 10ml
1/039iCE Anti-D IgM CErytec 10ml
1/060CE Anti-A, B, D IgG/IgM CErytec 3x10ml
The usual variants of 10x10ml size and "without box" are also available.
1/921CE Anti-C CErytec 5ml
1/925CE Anti-c CErytec 5ml
1/939CE Anti-E CErytec 5ml
1/945CE Anti-e CErytec 5ml
These products are also available in 10ml vials.
Full details on all variants can be found on our Blood Grouping product page.
Biotecs highly successful existing blood grouping range will continue to be available as an alternative for those territories not requiring CE marked reagents.
Medica, Germany.
We exhibited at Medica once again last November, for the 10th consecutive show. A record number of visitors were attracted, and distributors from 30 countries came for meetings with the Sales Team. Thanks to all of you who made the effort to come and see us. We will be exhibiting again this year at the same location, stand number to be confirmed.
Product Training
We are pleased to announce that Andre Trollip, FASTPlaqueTM Product Manager was in the UK office for a week of training last month. Andre successfully trained Irma Sakhuriya PhD, Technical Director of Chembio, the Biotec Laboratories Ltd Distributor in Russia.
*New Rapid Device Products*
Biotec is pleased to announce the launch of NEW View Now rapid test kits for the detection of Syphilis and Malaria.
Two new kits are now available for the rapid screening of Syphilis, one for use with serum/plasma specimens and another with serum/plasma/whole blood. Click here for the Syphilis device flier.
Four new Malaria rapid device kits have also now been introduced for the rapid detection of Pf, Pv/Pf, Pan/Pf and Pan/Pv/Pf Malaria from whole blood specimens. Click here for the Malaria device flier.
All of these new products are CE marked. Visit the Rapid Tests page for full details and instructions for use of each kit.
(October 2006)
Rapid detection of MDR-TB is now possible with FASTPlaque-ResponseTM
XDR-TB (Extreme Drug-resistant tuberculosis) has recently emerged as a serious threat to public health worldwide (MMWR 2006). Expert groups have concluded that better diagnostics have a critical role in the fight against MDR-TB (multidrug-resistant TB) and XDR-TB (Stop TB Partnership).
Cases of XDR-TB have been characterized by very rapid spread, particularly in HIV-positive individuals, and very high mortality, with deaths occurring within 16 days in the initial outbreak reported in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Hospitals and clinics are likely sites for transmission of TB, as HIV-positive individuals and TB patients spend many hours in the same waiting rooms.
Rapid diagnosis of MDR-TB is needed to improve the outcome of individual patients, to prevent further spread of MDR-TB and XDR-TB, and to prevent generation of further drug resistance.
FASTPlaque-Response is a rapid test for detecting MDR-TB directly from patients’ specimens
Results are available in 2 days, allowing “real time” reporting of results to clinicians, enabling rapid treatment decisions.
FASTPlaque-Response can be used to test patients at risk for MDR-TB, including TB patients who have previously failed, relapsed, or defaulted from treatment, contacts of known MDR-TB cases, and high risk groups, including HIV-positive individuals, healthcare workers, and prisoners.
(October 2006)
Press Releases
Diagnostics for Tuberculosis: Global Demand and Market Potential
Millions of people infected with tuberculosis (TB) go undiagnosed because rapid diagnostics are scarce in Third World countries where three-quarters of the tests need to be carried out. This is the major finding of a new report, Diagnostics for Tuberculosis: Global Demand and Market Potential, released today by the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) and the Special Programme for Tropical Disease Research and Training (WHO/TDR).
"We need simple tests to accurately screen for, and identify, active tuberculosis. New tests also are needed to monitor treatment response, to identify bacterial drug resistance, and to detect latent infection in people at greatest risk for progression to active TB" says Dr. Robert Ridley, director of TDR. The FASTPlaque range of products has been developed by Biotec Laboratories to meet the diagnostic challenge of tuberculosis in the developing world. The FASTPlaqueTB test is used for detection of TB, while the FASTPlaque Response test is used for drug susceptibility testing directly from sputum. Both tests are rapid (results in two days), accurate and simple to perform making them ideal for use in resource-poor settings.
(November 2006)
FIND and Biotec Announce Development of New Test for Rapid Diagnosis of Multi-Drug Resistant TB
London, UK This week the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) and Biotec Laboratories Ltd. (Biotec) announced completion of the development of FASTPlaque-Response , a new diagnostic test for multi-drug resistant TB that provides results in just two days, a significant improvement over conventional methods which take weeks to yield results. This new product is a result of public and private collaboration between FIND and Biotec.
"We are extremely pleased with the first outcome of our collaboration with FIND", said Peter Ellis, CEO of Biotec Laboratories Ltd., which has registered the test in Europe. "This new test will give clinicians the opportunity to effectively manage a patient’s treatment at the time of diagnosis, rather than using a standardized treatment in the hope that they got it right."
FASTPlaque-Response is able to detect resistance to the critical TB drug rifampicin directly from the sputum of patients with advanced tuberculosis, with accuracy comparable to current conventional methods. The test works by using mycobacteriophage (virus that infect TB) to reflect the presence of viable TB bacilli within a sample. Rifampicin resistance indicates a high chance of multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB, which is often fatal if incorrectly diagnosed and treated. Some 450,000 people are thought to develop MDR-TB, worldwide, each year.
“It is critical that we are able to identify patients who are infected with TB bacteria that are resistant to current treatment regimens before they transmit the disease or are beyond the ability to respond to available treatments,” said Dr. Giorgio Roscigno, CEO of FIND. “Without effective diagnostics, identifying MDR-TB is largely guess-work, and patients are either treated inappropriately with expensive and toxic therapies they do not need and cannot afford, or fail to get specialized treatment.” He added.
The new test will cost less than one tenth of the cost of the more technically demanding molecular tests, the only other rapid test for MDR-TB currently available on the market. The product has received regulatory approval within Europe. Biotec is about to launch the new test globally, with the initial focus in countries with a known high disease burden, such as Eastern Europe, Russian Federation, Central Asia, India, China and South Africa.
“Data published to date suggest that the test is both fast and accurate”, said Dr. Mark Perkins, Chief Scientific Officer of FIND. “With the completion of a current large clinical study in Lima, Peru,” he continued, “we expect to have an excellent understanding of test performance in controlled settings. FIND plans to further evaluate this technology through large scale demonstration projects, which will assess the feasibility and impact of using the test in the public sector of low-income countries.”
Once these projects are completed, the test will be made available for the public sector of developing countries at concessionary prices, as ensured by an agreement signed between FIND and Biotec.
Click here for the full text of the press release. For further information on the FASTPlaque-Response test, click here.
(March 2006)
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