Rapid Test for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or "Mad Cow" Disease)

Filed in archive Corporate and Industrial News , Diagnostics, Methodologies and Instrumentation , Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics on June 23, 2006

Genesis Bioventures, Inc. has granted an exclusive license to Bio Business Development Company (BBDC) to commercialize their proprietal Rapid Prion Detection Assays in Eighteen countries in Asia and the Pacific.

Our patented Rapid Prion-Detection Assay is designed to test for prion diseases, such as mad cow disease, directly at the point-of-kill rather than in a laboratory. The Assay is an easy-to-use rapid strip test that can be administered by trained individuals at slaughterhouses with visual results produced in less than an hour. PDL recently achieved 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity in a trial on confirmed positive and negative samples at the Veterinary Laboratory Agency in Weybridge, UK.

The firms are confident that the product will fare well in the Asian market, considering that consumers are scared off poultry in the face of the Avian flu situation. Early diagnostic kits may help boost the cattle industry.

Read more details of the licensing agreeement from Genesis' press release.