Acrongenomics targets Molecular Vision's microfluidics point-of-care diagnostics devices15 February 2008 Swiss technology investment group Acrongenomics, Inc.
(OTCBB:AGNM), has announced an agreement with with Molecular Vision and The
Imperial Venture Fund to acquire Molecular Vision by the end of the first
quarter this year. Acrongenomics acquired 10.9% of the shares of Molecular
Vision earlier this month. In a simple-to-use compact hand-held device the analytical capabilities of a number of standard pieces of laboratory equipment can be duplicated. This means that a very wide range of diagnostic tests based on the same procedures that are used in the laboratory, will now be available to be undertaken in a physicians office, or even in the field if you were, for example, trying to identify an outbreak of infectious disease in farm animals. This wide utility was identified by Acrongenomics and resulted in them investing US $ 4.6million in Molecular Vision in order to build a prototype of the hand-held device and undertake trials comparing the results obtained with the device with those obtained from standard pieces of equipment routinely used in Pathology Laboratories. The results of a comparative trial measuring creatinine in urine will be presented comparing the Molecular Vision device with the Siemens DCA 2000. These results have shown good correlation. A further comparative trial measuring vitamin C is underway and various blood-based tests are being planned. Once these comparative trials are completed, the company will then commercialise the first diagnostic panel to monitor kidney function, followed by vitamin C monitoring. Dr Dimitris Goundis, CEO of Acrongenomics commented: "Molecular Vision has an exceptional team working with a very exciting technology that we feel will become a very significant part of the US$11bn market. Because of the compact and mobile nature of this technology, we see it as having much wider application than we envisaged when we made the initial investment to secure rights for kidney, cardiovascular and STD applications. "We now see this as a standard unit that will be used in the hospital clinics, wards, operating theatres and emergency departments, indeed wherever quick results are required for rapid intervention at one end of the spectrum or for the convenience of the patient in the clinic or physicians office environment at the other end. "However, the true versatility of this device is such that the unit can be taken into the field, not only to support community based health initiatives, but also in homeland security and in the veterinary field where in-situ testing for infectious disease could take place. Having seen all these applications open to the device it is now appropriate for us to protect our initial investment and take total control over the rapid commercialisation of this exceptional and versatile technology." Dr Ian Campbell, CEO of Molecular Vision added: "Acrongenomics is an ideal partner to support the Company as we now have the guaranteed access to funding that will now allow the team to concentrate solely of generating comparative data for an increasing range of diagnostic tests. Since we first showcased the device in March of 2007 we have been able to improve the detection sensitivity 100-fold through a combination of optimised light sources, light detectors and filters, all of which are assembled at low cost, ideal for the point-of-care diagnostic market. "We now need to show unequivocally that this system generates the same data with the same degree of accuracy as the standard laboratory based tests. This should be relatively straightforward as the tests are basically the same but we have the advantage of using microfluidics making the device portable. We have now worked with the team at Acrongenomics since 2006 and it is clear that they now understand the technology and have seen much wider markets that are now open to the technology. We can concentrate on what we are good at and leave the corporate side to an equally expert team." |
