Response Biomedical starts commercialization of test to detect avian flu

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Oct. 24 - Response Biomedical Corp. announced Monday that it has initiated commercialization of a new high sensitivity rapid RAMP test for detecting influenza A, a highly contagious disease caused by the influenza virus that attacks the respiratory tract in humans.

The test may fill a large, unmet medical need, company officials said in a news release, because the World Health Organization recommends against the use of the currently available rapid flu tests for detecting Avian flu, a strain of influenza A. Public health experts fear an avian flu epidemic in humans as bird infections are on the rise.

Initial results suggest the RAMP flu test is capable of producing highly sensitive and reliable information that is unprecedented in commercially available rapid immunoassays, officials said.

International public health authorities are expressing interest in evaluating the RAMP flu test for the detection of avian flu, officials said.

"Given the current epidemic of avian flu among bird populations and broad recognition that more sensitive rapid screening tools are required in both human and bird applications, we've received keen interest from leading international health authorities in further validating our RAMP platform," Bill Radvak, president and chief executive officer, said in the release.

The Burnaby, B.C.-based company markets a RAMP environmental West Nile Virus test, a RAMP Anthrax test and a RAMP Cardiac test to detect heart attacks.

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