Distribution Contract for BBI's Herpes Test

A five-year contract for the distribution of the herpes simplex virus type II (HSV-2) test of BBI Holdings PLC (Cardiff, UK) by a U.S. arm of Biokit S.A. (Barcelona, Spain) has been announced by the principals.

BBI's test is called QuickCards and is based on high-quality gold colloid reagents. HSV-2 is the most common cause of genital herpes disease worldwide. In the U.S. alone, an estimated 1.5 million new cases of genital herpes occur each year, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD, USA). Recent clinical data published in
January and May 2004 in The New England Journal of Medicine indicate that patients with HSV-2 infections have up to a 50% greater chance of acquiring HIV infections, thereby establishing the urgency to identify HSV-2 infections.

BBI's HSV-2 QuickCards can detect HSV-2 in capillary blood or serum. The two-step test provides a visual result in less than 10 minutes. The test will be marketed in the United States as the Biokit HSV-2 Rapid Test.

"This deal is important in two respects: firstly in securing BBI's position in the USA point-of-care market and, secondly, I believe that in Biokit we have secured the best distribution partner,” said Julian Baines, managing director of BBI Holdings.




Related Links:
BBI
Biokit