Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

Cambridge based ProMetic Life Sciences says its new technology could improve the sensitivity of tests for mad-cow disease by "as much as 80-fold."

Developed under the auspices of the joint venture the company established in 2002 with the American Red Cross - Pathogen Removal and Diagnostic Technologies Inc - the concentration technology is added to commercially available post mortem diagnostic tests for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

ProMetic's first device using the concentration technology will take the form of a filter that will amplify the "infectious prion signal" by concentrating bovine prions from brain tissue. This stronger signal allows for a more sensitive detection of BSE in cattle and at a younger age, according to ProMetic. Most cattle going to market are less than 24 months old but current BSE diagnostic tests are unlikely to identify the disease at that age.

BSE, commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal, neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. It is believed, but not proven, that the disease may be transmitted to human beings who eat infected carcasses. In humans, it is known as new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

PRDT's concentration technology is under development by ProMetic's BSafE Innovations Inc. division

"Our scientists continue to make excellent progress towards the commercialization of this first device," said Dr Peter Edwardson, VP of medical technologies at ProMetic. "We are extremely encouraged by these recent findings, as they increase our ability to leverage our prion research and development expertise, adding value to many currently available diagnostics tests for BSE."

Tests for infectious prions such as BSE are conducted on approximately 13 million out of the 60 million cattle annually in the US, Europe and Japan. The vast majority of these tests are performed in Europe and Japan, with less than 40,000 tests performed in the U.S.

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