Molecular Test for HPVs Uses Standard Diagnostic Equipment

A DNA-based diagnostic test for human papillomavirus (HPV) uses standard molecular diagnostic equipment found in most commercial laboratories. The HPV DNA test complements a HPV blood test being developed to detect the presence of antibodies produced by cancer-causing HPV types.

There are some 100 types of HPV; however, only about 7-15 HPV-types cause most cervical cancers. Grant Life Sciences, a developer of diagnostic testing systems, believes that a blood-based test to detect precancerous evidence and cancer of the cervix is the preferred test-methodology to address the needs of the developing world. Molecular (DNA) testing is currently the approved test protocol in both the United States and Europe to identify the presence of different subtypes of HPV in the cervix.

An agreement has been signed by Grant Life Sciences, Inc. (Salt Lake, UT, USA) and Alphagenics Diaco Biotechnologies S.r.l. (Trieste, Italy) to exclusively in-license the manufacturing and marketing rights to the Alphagenics' molecular diagnostic test for human papillomaviruses (HPVs) in China and the United States and non-exclusively in all other countries.

The introduction of the Alphagenics HPV test not only will allow commercial laboratories to provide molecular testing but will also complement the current introduction of vaccines against HPVs, according to Dr. Hun-Chi Lin, president and chief scientist, Grant Life Sciences.

In addition, Dr. Lin said that the Alphagenics test could be used in the current gynecologic regimen to help qualify Pap test results in the case of ambiguous readings, at a cost less than the currently approved molecular test. Grant Life expects to launch the Alphagenics HPV DNA-based test in the Asian and Indian markets during the first quarter of 2008 as an Analyte-Specific Reagent (ASR) to reference laboratories.

Alphagenics Diaco Biotechnologies is one of the most specialized companies in Italy in the use of technical innovation in molecular biology for the production of kits for clinical and research use in oncology, bacteriology, virology, and mycology.

Grant Life Sciences engages in research, development, marketing, and sale of diagnostic kits for the screening, monitoring, and diagnosis of diseases with emphasis on women's health, infectious diseases, and cancers.


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