Tm Bioscience signs first regional distributor for respiratory viral panel that detects avian flu

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, April 19 - Tm Bioscience Corp. announced Wednesday that it has signed a distribution agreement with a major diagnostics distributor to commercialize the ID-Tag respiratory viral panel (RVP) in Turkey.

"This is the first of a number of regional distribution agreements that we anticipate signing for our ID-Tag RVP, a unique test that has the potential to play a key role in managing the pandemic threat of Avian Flu in addition to its role as a tool to assist in the diagnosis of respiratory viruses in clinical settings," Greg Hines, president and chief executive officer of Tm Bioscience, said in a company news release.

"Turkey is on the front lines of the bird flu outbreak, suffering the first deaths from the disease outside of Southeast Asia and China. Our test will be marketed in one of the areas hardest hit so far, where we anticipate it will be used as a first line surveillance tool for suspected avian flu infections," Hines added.

Tm said it anticipates the ID-Tag panel will be launched in Turkey in the next few weeks.

To further support marketing efforts outside of North America, Tm said it expects to obtain CE marking for this product in 2006.

The ID-Tag RVP is a comprehensive assay for the detection of various strains of viruses and subtypes, including H5, or avian flu.

The company said it expects that the ID-Tag panel will address two key markets. It will serve in the clinical setting for diagnosis and treatment of patients with respiratory viruses. The company also said it expects the panel to play a key role in managing the potential pandemic threats posed by the avian flu and SARS.

In January, the company said it made the ID-Tag RVP commercially available outside of the United States and for evaluation purposes within the United States.

Tm said its sales force will be directly marketing the product to hospital based laboratories in the United States and Canada. The company said it is in discussion with additional distributors for selling the product outside of the United States.

Tm Bioscience is a Toronto, Ont., DNA-based diagnostics company developing a suite of genetic tests. Its pipeline includes tests for genetic disorders, drug metabolism and infectious diseases.

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