RESPONSE BIOMEDICAL HITS KEY MILESTONE
- COMPLETES BETA TESTING OF RAMP SYSTEM
Vancouver, British Columbia, February 13, 2001 - Response Biomedical Corp.
(RBM:CDNX) today announced that it has completed beta testing of the RAMPTM
System and myoglobin blood test, a marker used in the diagnosis of heart
attacks. The preclinical study evaluated the precision and ease-of-use of
RAMP at CEQAL Inc., Canada's leading reference method laboratory and St.
Paul's Hospital, both of Vancouver, Canada.
"The high degree of reproducibility obtained in this milestone study assures
the readiness of the RAMP System for the upcoming FDA clinical trials," said
Bill Radvak, President & CEO of Response Biomedical. "Doctors, nurses and
clinical laboratory technologists that participated in the study also
confirmed that RAMP is simple to operate and will play an important role in
the delivery of point-of-care medicine."
In North America, over 6 million emergency patient visits are recorded
annually for the evaluation of chest pain and related symptoms. Interest in
rapid, quantitative results for cardiac markers is widespread with many
hospitals moving towards point-of-care testing to enhance patient care and
flow in the emergency department. The market for these products is growing
at 20% to 30% per year, a trend that is projected to continue through 2005.
Myoglobin is the first of three RAMP cardiac tests to enter into the
clinical trial phase of commercialization. Recent American Heart
Association guidelines state that patients with suspected acute coronary
syndromes must be evaluated rapidly. Studies have shown that serum
concentrations of myoglobin are elevated most quickly after a heart attack.
Response Biomedical develops quantitative, point-of-care, diagnostic tests
for use with its proprietary RAMP System. The RAMP System reduces the cost
of healthcare by allowing accurate, rapid, and easy-to-use tests to be
performed in hospitals, clinics, laboratories, and doctor's offices
worldwide.
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The Canadian Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not
accept responsibility for the adequacy of the content of the information
contained herein. The statements made in this press release may contain
certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ from the Company's
expectations.
<<010213 betatest factsheet.PDF>>
For more information, please contact:
Ryan Males, Ph.D.
Manager, Corporate Communications
604.412.6055 tel
604.412.9830 fax
Email: rmales@responsebio.com
www.responsebio.com |
