ABAXIS Announces Worldwide Animal Health Licensing Agreement for Rapid Test Technology
07 1월 2009 - 8:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
UNION CITY, Calif., Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Abaxis, Inc.
(NASDAQ: ABAX), a medical products company manufacturing
point-of-care blood analysis instruments for both the medical and
veterinary markets, announced today that it has entered into a
license agreement for co-exclusive worldwide rights in the field of
animal health diagnostics in the professional marketplace for
certain technologies pertaining to lateral flow immunoassay devices
and methods. This license agreement provides Abaxis the
co-exclusive opportunity to utilize these technologies to expand
the Abaxis product portfolio and enter on a large scale the
professional veterinary rapid diagnostic market. This includes
point of care tests for infectious diseases, hormones and
therapeutic drugs. The total market for these types of tests in the
animal health and laboratory animal research is estimated to be
over $100,000,000 in the United States alone. "The VetScan brand is
recognized in the research market and animal health industry
worldwide as synonymous with quality, reliability and unparalleled
cost effectiveness. The Abaxis rapid diagnostic product line now in
development will extend these attributes into rapid test lateral
flow devices and maintain Abaxis' standards of product excellence,"
said Clint Severson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Kenneth
Aron, PhD, Chief Technology Officer added, "With this license
agreement we will now be able to develop and offer point of care
tests for animal health in the professional marketplace in both our
rotor format and in the popular "strip test" format. Having this
license means that we can now move forward with an aggressive plan
to develop and place our product offerings in the widest range of
professional market segments throughout the veterinary industry."
About Abaxis, Inc. Abaxis develops, manufactures and markets
portable blood analysis systems for use in any veterinary or human
patient-care setting to provide clinicians with rapid blood
constituent measurements. The system consists of a compact, 5.1
kilogram (11.2 pounds), portable analyzer and a series of
single-use plastic discs, called reagent discs that contain all the
chemicals required to perform a panel of up to 13 tests on
veterinary patients and 14 tests on human patients. The system can
be operated with minimal training and performs multiple routine
tests on whole blood, serum or plasma samples. The system provides
test results in less than 12 minutes with the precision and
accuracy equivalent to a clinical laboratory analyzer. The
veterinary business also provides to the veterinarian and research
market now a line of hematology instruments for point of care
complete blood counts (CBC). This press release includes statements
that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Abaxis claims
the protection of the safe-harbor for forward-looking statements
contained in the Reform Act. Specific forward-looking statements
contained in this press release include, but are not limited to,
risks and uncertainties related to the market acceptance of the
Company's products and the continuing development of its products,
risks associated with manufacturing and distributing its products
on a commercial scale, risks associated with entering the human
diagnostic market on a larger scale, risks involved in carrying of
inventory, risks from unexpected problems or delays in the
Company's manufacturing facility, risks associated with the ability
to attract and retain competent sales personnel, general market
conditions, competition, risks and uncertainties related to its
ability to raise capital in order to fund its operations and other
risks detailed from time to time in Abaxis' periodic reports filed
with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statement
was made. Abaxis does not undertake and specifically disclaims any
obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Contact: Clint
Severson Lytham Partners, LLC Chief Executive Officer Joe Dorame,
Robert Blum and Joe Diaz Abaxis, Inc. 602-889-9700 510-675-6500
DATASOURCE: Abaxis, Inc. CONTACT: Clint Severson, Chief Executive
Officer of Abaxis, Inc., +1-510-675-6500; or Joe Dorame, Robert
Blum, or Joe Diaz, all of Lytham Partners, LLC, +1-602-889-9700,
for Abaxis, Inc.
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