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Gold/Mining/Energy : Response Biomedical (V.RBM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dick Martin who wrote (447)	11/27/2002 9:58:21 AM
From: Starowl	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 655

This can't hurt: UN Weapons Inspectors in Iraq Armed With Response Biomedical's RAMP(R) System For Detecting Biowarfare Agents Wednesday November 27, 9:30 am ET TSX Venture Exchange: RBM VANCOUVER, Nov. 27 /CNW/ - Response Biomedical Corp. (RBM: TSX Venture Exchange) today announces the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) is equipping teams of UN biological weapons inspectors in Iraq with RAMP Systems to quickly and confidently identify biological weapons of mass destruction. ADVERTISEMENT RAMP Systems will soon be strategically located for actual field-use in Iraq, enabling inspectors in less than 15 minutes to reliably detect low levels of B. anthricis, ricin and botulinum toxin, three high priority biological agents expected to be used in bioterrorism. Teams of UN weapons inspectors have received training on the RAMP System at the Commission headquarters at the United Nations in New York. "We are proud to support the vital effort of UN weapons inspectors in Iraq by supplying the international community with world-class technology to protect public health and safety against the global threat of potentially lethal biowarfare attacks," states Bill Radvak, President and CEO. "As the only independently validated technology solution that enables rapid and reliable on-site detection of the leading biological agents, the RAMP System is a critical diagnostic tool that will vastly reduce the ever present threat of bioterrorism at home and abroad." Fully one year following the recent anthrax attacks in the US, most emergency responders continue to rely solely on confirmatory lab testing for a reliable result, which takes on average one to three days and precludes an immediate and effective response to a hoax or actual anthrax attack. Developed as a diagnostic testing platform for use in clinical point-of- care settings, the RAMP System features substantive technology innovation and performance improvements over earlier generation immunoassay-based detection techniques, such as reflectance or visual interpretation by the user. RAMP combines the use of fluorescence with a proprietary Internal Control that overcomes the inherent test-to-test variability of traditional immunoassays, and provides a level of sensitivity, specificity, and reliability that is unprecedented in the area of rapid on-site biological detection. The battery operated RAMP Reader weighs less than five pounds and is easy to operate with single-use disposable cartridges. Data can be stored on the device and uploaded to a printer or computer. The System is commercially available for an all-inclusive price of approximately US$10,000. Other commercially available rapid, on-site biowarfare tests employ antiquated immunoassay technology, reflected in a lack of sensitivity, specificity, reproducibility and frequent false results. Although simple lateral flow immunoassays add value in such applications as home pregnancy and drug abuse testing, this first generation technology has been shown to have negligible commercial value in biowarfare testing. RAMP is the only immunoassay (antibody) based platform technology with biowarfare applications to receive regulatory market clearance from the FDA for the point-of-care, quantitative measurement of a clinical test. Little or no independent research is publicly available to support any level of performance with respect to sensitivity and specificity of any other commercially available rapid on-site biowarfare tests. In independent evaluations conducted by the Canadian Department of National Defence (DRDC-Suffield) and Maryland State Department of Health, the RAMP Anthrax Test was 100% reliable in detecting B. anthracis at or above 4,000 spores, with greater than 99% confidence in specificity. No competing technology purports to have sufficient sensitivity to detect the presence of anthrax below 100,000 spores. The 10,000 spore level has been commonly used to define a potentially infectious dose of anthrax by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).