Bio-Fluorescent Technologies Inc. acquires worldwide rights to AIDS test system; detection of HIV hours after infection.SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 1995--Bio-Fluorescent Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ/OTC:BFTI BFTI Brownfields Tax Incentive ) (BFTI) announces Thursday that it has acquired from Wendover Corp. the exclusive worldwide rights to the Mehica GP-120, an automated HIV testing HIV test Various tests have been used to detect HIV and production of antibodies thereto; some HTs shown below are no longer actively used, but are listed for completeness and context. See HIV, Immunoblot. system of human blood. This breakthrough in HIV testing may make it possible to help curtail cur·tail tr.v. cur·tailed, cur·tail·ing, cur·tails To cut short or reduce. See Synonyms at shorten. [Middle English curtailen, to restrict the alarming rate at which the deadly disease AIDS is spreading. The first case of AIDS was reported in 1981. Today it is estimated that 40 million people are infected with HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. worldwide, and this figure is growing at an alarming rate. A factor permitting the spread of this disease is that current screening tests for HIV require an immune response immune response n. An integrated bodily response to an antigen, especially one mediated by lymphocytes and involving recognition of antigens by specific antibodies or previously sensitized lymphocytes. by the infected person before the presence of HIV can be detected. This immune response is the production of antibodies by the infected person. It takes six to eight weeks to as long as three years for the body to produce a sufficient concentration of antibodies to be detected by current screening tests. Therefore, there is an interval where all infected people are undetectable by current screening test methods. BFTI's test measures the presence of an HIV antigen or foreign body in the blood. All infected "T4" cells (cells targeted by HIV) carry this HIV antigen. Within hours of infection there are enough infected T4 cells in the blood for BFTI's test to detect, unlike the weeks to even years required by conventional tests that rely on antibody production. Sales will be through existing distribution channels to public and private laboratories in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and foreign markets. The tests will take 15 minutes or less and cost approximately $25 instead of $54 to $150. The FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. approved the first HIV test in 1985. Data for 1992, the latest year in which there is data available, shows that in the United States, 97 million HIV tests were performed. BFTI's development team, supported by a prestigious technical advisory group is scheduled to produce the world's first automated antigen based HIV test system within a year. CONTACT: Bio-Fluorescent Technologies Inc. Charles, 800/870-1233 or Cactus Consultants Inc. Margaret, 800/665-1335 |
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