Rockeby Biomed Ltd, a Singapore based biotech company, has generated significant interest worldwide for its bird flu tests. The company has the exclusive marketing and distribution rights to two rapid bird flu tests after signing a deal with Thailand-based manufacturer, Pacific Biotech Co Ltd. Rockeby has received the first stock of the test and is expected to begin distribution in South East Asia by December 1, 2005.
The company has so far received numerous requests for both tests at the Medica International Trade Fair and Congress that was held in Germany last week, as well as from a major poultry producer in Jordan. It has also received requests from Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan, including an offer from a veterinary product company to apply to register the bird flu tests in Japan. Rockeby will participate in a clinical trial for a treatment in Hong Kong next month. The trial will be jointly conducted by Murdoch University in Perth, the Singapore Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, and the Agriculture Fisheries and Conservation Department in Hong Kong.
The test kit for birds, which the company says are the world’s first “in-the-field” diagnostic, samples blood, serum or feces for the H5N1 virus. A second test kit checks for proteins specific to the H5N1 virus in samples taken from the human nose or throat.
These tests are likely to score over the current tests in the market, which must be conducted in laboratories and can take anywhere from 11 hours to as long as two days. Since Rockeby’s test kits can detect the presence of bird flu in humans and birds in just 10 minutes they can play a crucial role in the early detection and control of bird flu outbreaks.
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