Ted...i think OSUR will go once the Fed's green light their test...the key aspects to MIR.V test ref shelf life and speed make it ideal for the billions of people outside the EU and USA...and those are the mkts this .$43C stock can thrive in....for example--
biz.yahoo.com
article--
MedMira: Breakthroughs for a Healthier Tomorrow
by Kim Dunn
A woman lies on a delivery table about to give birth. The facility has never seen her before and has no medical history on her. The medical team needs information now, to help her and her child. They must know if she is HIV-positive, and they need to know before the healthy baby enters the birth canal where the disease can be transmitted.
There isn't much time. HIV and AIDS do not cross the mother's placenta into the baby's blood stream. If the baby were to contract HIV it would be through contact with the mother's natural bodily fluids during birth, or later, through breastfeeding. A caesarian section will prevent the former, and having formula ready for feeding the child will avert the latter.
The team must act fast. It needs a rapid response test for HIV-AIDS. At one time, the fastest test would have taken 30 to 40 minutes, and by that time the child would have been well within the birth canal. But now there is a test that produces definitive results in just three minutes, and it was created by MedMira of Halifax.
This remarkable Nova Scotia company was established in 1994 by Hermes Chan. He and his wife, Carlina, while graduate students at Acadia University, invented the technology upon which the rapid tests are built.
Hermes and Carlina knew they had a valuable, and marketable, process that would revolutionize the diagnosis of several serious diseases. But they didn't have the financial and organizational expertise to build and run a diagnostics lab.
While at a science conference in Boston, the Chans met the man who would provide that expertise. His name is Stephen Sham and, together with an experienced, dedicated team, he has helped MedMira become a major international force. Stephen is chair and CEO of MedMira while Hermes is president and chief operating officer.
MedMira has developed rapid tests for HIV-AIDS, hepatitis-B and hepatitis-C. The company has also produced a combination test for HIV and hepatitis-C as well as a triple test for all three. Each test uses the same technology and gives results in three minutes -- they say three minutes because that is how long it takes to perform the steps in the test, the results are actually instantaneous.
Rapid diagnosis is critical in many medical situations. Health-care and emergency workers, such as nurses, technicians, paramedics, firefighters and police, may come into contact with the fluids of people who have unknown conditions. They may get a needle stick or somehow ingest blood or other fluids.
If they have become infected, or there is even a possibility of infection, the emergency worker cannot treat other patients. But with MedMira's rapid tests, the source patient can be tested quickly and the best course of action can be determined immediately.
Another significant benefit of MedMira's test has global ramifications. The test is entirely self-contained: it does not require refrigeration or lab equipment or any special apparatus to be performed. Its portability makes it an invaluable medical marvel for health-care providers everywhere.
In remote parts of the world, such as rural Africa or China, this test can be done easily and quickly with minimum training.
What makes the test so fast -- 10 times faster than the next fastest one available -- is that it uses gravity in a flow-through process while others use a lateral movement test. Using gravity is much faster.
Another unique benefit of MedMira's unique test is also versatile. It can be used on whole blood, blood serum or plasma, providing unprecedented flexibility to health-care workers who are far from facility that could produce blood serum.
"We are thrilled to be on the leading edge of this technology," says Hermes, "not only for our business, but for the benefit of patients around the world."
MedMira's innovative technology has resulted in rapid tests that have been approved by Health Canada, the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Chinese State Drug Administration, and in January it was approved by the European Union. The test is the only one to hold approvals from all four administrations. It is not only the fastest in the world, it also surpasses the FDA's requirement of at least 98 per cent accuracy.
MedMira produces its novel product at its Bayer's Lake location in Halifax Regional Municipality. Its corporate offices and a lab facility are located there while its Burnside location houses more lab space and production facilities. MedMira provides 50 to 60 full-time jobs, depending on production needs. Many of these jobs are high-quality, well-paying positions in research and development, science lab work, production, marketing, and administration.
Stephen believes the company is poised for major growth through exports to the world's health organizations, and soon, directly to consumers. Already, MedMira is selling its test in Hong Kong through pharmacists, over the counter to consumers. Other countries are considering approving the test for commercial sale.
"As the world becomes more interconnected, the need for tests like ours will only increase," says Stephen. "If we can do our part in the war against these global plagues, we will be extremely pleased."
MedMira truly is a medical miracle. It follows in Nova Scotia's long tradition of medical innovation, from the first use of chloroform in Canada, to the seminal studies on multiple sclerosis by Dr. T.J. (Jock) Murray. They are true examples of the optimistic, world-embracing vision that Nova Scotia is demonstrating across various industries. Nova Scotia is passing the test among medical communities around the world. |
