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Biotech / Medical : ZymeTx, Inc. - ZMTX new biotech company -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wesley Jack who wrote (58)	3/11/1998 11:28:00 PM
From: Jason Chesshir	Respond to of 88

Wesley, excuse my ignorance but who is CDC? I checked for form 4 but no filing for ZMTX were to be found. The recent decline in the stock price has not changed the moral over there at ZMTX, actually it presents a buying opportunity. I spoke with a friend who's a chemist at ZMTX and he seems very upbeat. They were buying aggressively at these levels on Tuesday!

To: Wesley Jack who wrote (58)	3/12/1998 4:47:00 PM
From: Jason Chesshir	Respond to of 88

ZymeTx's ZStatFlu Test Able to Detect Life-Threatening Hong Kong Bird-Flu Virus Mar-12-1998 4:08 PM, PRNewswire, OKLAHOMA CITY, March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The deadly bird-flu virus that killed six people in Hong Kong and set off a mass extermination of chickens and other poultry can be reliably detected by the new ZStatFlu(TM) influenza test, officials at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta confirmed today. ZStatFlu, the first point-of-care test that can quickly and accurately diagnose all strains of influenza A and B, was successfully tested this month on isolates of H5N1 Hong Kong Flu (bird-flu) stored at the CDC in Atlanta. "The bird-flu virus outbreak in Hong-Kong reaffirms the very real and significant threat that influenza is to people," commented Peter G. Livingston, chief executive officer (CEO) of ZymeTx, the biotechnology company that discovered and developed ZStatFlu. ZStatFlu was invented to be a broad laboratory surveillance tool capable of rapidly detecting any strain of influenza A or B. The ability of the ZStatFlu to reliably detect the bird-flu virus is viewed by researchers and company officials as further validation of the significant medical application and market potential of the product as a strong first-defense in the control of emerging flu epidemics and pandemics. According to Dr. Robert J. Hudson, medical director of ZymeTx, ZStatFlu works effectively on detecting all known A and B influenza strains that have infected people over the past 30 years. "Our own extensive research tests on this new and dangerous strain supports the findings of the CDC that ZStatFlu is equally as effective in detecting mutated avian (bird) strains of the virus," Hudson noted. Dr. Craig D. Shimasaki, Vice President-Research at ZymeTx explained further, "Influenza has two surface proteins that it needs to infect an individual, these are called hemagglutinin "H" and neuraminindase "N". Historically, influenza containing one of three different H's (H1, H2, H3) and along with one of two different N's (N1 and N2) have infected humans. The H5, which normally infects birds, has now infected humans. The advantage of the ZStatFlu test is that it is not confused by changes the virus makes to these proteins that are different each year. The ZStatFlu test detects the internal activity of bird and human N's. This fundamental difference in detection method compared to antibody-based tests assures that the different types of influenza circulating each year will be detected by our test." While flu occurs mainly in the winter months, the influenza virus is active year round. The first death from the bird-flu occurred in May of last year. "In the aftermath of the bird-flu crisis, surveillance to detect new and emerging viral influenza strains will likely become a year around activity," Hudson surmised. ZymeTx technology has positively identified influenza from numerous characterized virus strains as well as from hundreds of clinical respiratory isolates. Characterized influenza A and influenza B strains tested ranged from the 1933 to the 1991 influenza seasons and clinical respiratory isolates tested were from the 1991 through the 1998 influenza seasons. ZymeTx received FDA clearance for the ZStatFlu test in September 1997. The company is actively involved in an aggressive program aimed at building awareness and understanding in the medical community toward the sweeping benefits of conclusive diagnosis of viral infections. ZStatFlu influenza test is a product of ZymeTx, Inc., a biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of products for the diagnosis and treatment of viruses. The company's shares are traded on the Nasdaq NSM under the symbol ZMTX. SOURCE ZymeTx, Inc. (Copyright 1998)