8 Apr 2011 07:00
Embargoed: 0700hrs 8 April 2011
Akers Biosciences, Inc.
("ABI" or the "Company")
Conclusion of First Heparin-induced Thrombocytopenia Study
Akers Biosciences, Inc. (AIM:AKR), a leading designer and manufacturer of rapid diagnostic screening and testing products, announces the results of a study recently concluded at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, which included an analysis of ABI's PIFA Heparin/PF-4 Rapid Assay ("PIFA test"), as well as several different laboratory methods in the screening for heparin-induced thrombocytopenia ("HIT") in critically ill patients.
The Company is pleased to announce that not only did its PIFA test correctly identify every positive patient but, more importantly, it produced no "false negative" results, unlike the alternative ELISA test. The study concluded that ABI's unique, patented PIFA assay can serve as a quick "rule out" test for HIT, thus assisting the physician in the rapid diagnosis of the patient's potentially serious condition.
In the US and EU, approximately 25 million patients are exposed to Heparin annually and 1 to 5% of those patients receive a HIT diagnosis. The largest at-risk populations are patients undergoing major cardiac or orthopedic surgical procedures. It is estimated that up to 50% of cardiac surgery patients develop HIT-antibodies, while these antibodies may be detected in close to 15% of orthopedic surgery patients. Patients with HIT are at risk of developing limb- and life-threatening complications, so the timely test result provided by ABI's PIFA test, is paramount to effective, clinical decision making.
Daniel Kett, M.D, one of the principal investigators of the ABI-funded study, was invited to present the conclusions at the 31st International Symposium of Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine last week in Brussels. Significantly, Dr. Kett and his colleagues proposed a new algorithm in the diagnosis of HIT that uses ABI's PIFA test, which could have an impact on how HIT patients are detected and managed.
The Company's new point-of care testing platform for HIT antibodies, PIFA POC, was also introduced as, with the benefit of its patented integrated blood cell separator, it will further reduce the time to diagnosis to approximately 2 minutes.
Dr. Kett's presentation was entitled "Heparin induced thrombocytopenia in the critically ill: How to interpret anti-PF4 antibody test results".
Dr. Raymond Akers, Founder & Executive Chairman of ABI, commented,
"We are pleased to see our test used so successfully in a clinical situation, and also that the authors thought highly enough of our product to include it in their new diagnostic algorithm for HIT. When a physician encounters a life and death situation like HIT, he or she needs a product that can be entirely relied upon to provide critical information in a timely manner. This study is a validation of our product's performance. We believe that the positive experiences reported in this study are similar to those in other institutions, and have contributed to the increase in the market penetration of this product that we have observed this year."
Enquiries:
Thomas A. Nicolette, President and CEO
Dr Raymond F. Akers, Jr., Executive Chairman
Tel. +1 856 848 8698
Antony Legge or Noelle Greenaway
Daniel Stewart & Company plc (Nomad and Broker)
Tel. +44 (0)20 7776 6550
Ben Simons
M: Communications
Tel. +44 (0)20 7920 2340
About Akers Biosciences, Inc.
Akers Biosciences develops, manufactures, and supplies rapid, point of care screening and testing products designed to bring healthcare information both rapidly and directly to the consumer or healthcare provider. The Company has advanced the science of diagnostics while responding to major shifts in healthcare through the development of several proprietary platform technologies. The Company's state-of-the-art rapid diagnostic assays can be performed virtually anywhere in minutes when time is of the essence. ABI has aligned with major healthcare companies and high volume medical product distributors to maximise product offerings, and to be a major worldwide competitor in diagnostics. Additional information on the Company and its products can be found at www.akersbiosciences.com