Rockeby To Present Rapid Bird Flu Test Research To Pasteur Institute

Main Category: Bird Flu / Avian Flu
Article Date: 19 May 2007 - 12:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

Australia listed Singapore based diagnostics group Rockeby biomed Limited (ASX: RBY) is pleased to announce that it has been selected to present research on its proprietary rapid bird flu test, which was prepared by Western Australia's Murdoch University School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, to the Second International Anti-Avian Influenza Conference in Paris at the Pasteur Institute on 31 May and 1st June 2007.

The Second International Anti-Avian Influenza Conference aims to bring together the leading world specialists in the field of avian influenza. This comes after the epidemic in 2006. The focus of the conference will be to discuss the latest scientific advances, especially on new therapeutic targets for treatment and prevention (vaccines) in humans and animals, and the strategies to avoid a human pandemic by treating and preventing the epizootie.

Rockeby Managing Director and CEO Dr Sze-Wee Tan will attend the prestigious conference, and will outline the Murdoch study, which evaluated the performance of Rockeby's test plus four other detection tests for the Avian Influenza antigen with various avian samples.

Dr Tan said: "For Rockeby to present the comparative advantages of its rapid bird flu test to an audience of the world's leading authorities on bird flu indicates the high level of interest in the Company's intellectual property and its research."

In the March 2007 issue of the Journal of Avian Diseases, researchers from Murdock University reported the results of their evaluation of five influenza antigen detection tests. The tests included two rapid chromatographic immunoassays (one was Rockeby's rapid test), an H5 HA antigen detection enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), an influenza A antigen detection ELISA, and a H5 rapid immuno-blot assay. Avian influenza H5N1 virus��"positive swab samples were used to estimate sensitivity of the diagnostic tests. This included H5N1 infected swabs from various bird species such as chickens, various other land based poultry, ducks and geese and various wild birds.

The trial was conducted in 2006, jointly by Murdoch University's School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences and representatives from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Hong Kong SAR Government. Australian Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre funded the trial.

"The results indicated that these antigen detection tests could be used for preliminary investigation of H5N1 outbreaks as a low-cost, simple flock test in sick and dead birds for the rapid detection of H5N1 infection," Dr Tan said.

About Rockeby biomed Limited:

Rockeby biomed Limited is a Singapore-based, ASX-listed (ASX: RBY) biotechnology company specializing in research, development and marketing of rapid testing technologies for infectious disease in humans and animals. The company's core specialization is the development of rapid testing diagnostics.

International Anti-Avian Influenza Conference

The conference aims to bring again together the world specialists in the field in order to make a focus on avian influenza after the epidemic in 2006 and to discuss about the latest scientific advances, especially on new therapeutic targets for treatment and prevention (vaccines) in humans and animals, and the strategies to avoid a human pandemic by treating and preventing the epizootie (www.isanh.com/avian-influenza).

www.rockeby.com

• Additional
• References
• Citations