LabNow Announces Licensing Agreement with UT
July 10, 2004LabNow Announces Licensing Agreement with University of Texas
Austin - (BUSINESS WIRE) - July 11, 2004 - LabNow, Inc., developer of the LabNow point of care diagnostic system, announced that it has signed an exclusive, worldwide licensing agreement for The University of Texas at Austin Lab-on-a-Chip platform technology. The novel sensor technology has the capability to complete complex fluid analysis quickly and accurately. It is adaptable to any medical diagnostic procedure as well as applications beyond the medical field, including homeland security, environmental chemistry and process engineering. The technology was developed by Dr. John McDevitt, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the university, who will be a scientific advisor to LabNow.
LabNow's initial focus is on Point-of-Care Testing markets for medical applications. Its first application is in the measurement of critical blood parameters for persons afflicted with HIV/AIDS. The blood parameters measured by the device, CD4 lymphocytes, are the key markers of disease progression and are used as the criteria to determine when drug treatment begins. Worldwide, over 40 million people have HIV/AIDS and various organizations project that it could reach 85 million by 2010. Although there is greater access to pharmaceutical treatments for HIV/AIDS, adequate patient monitoring systems remain unavailable for most of the people afflicted by this disease.
The LabNow CD4Now blood test, which could be used in physician offices in developed healthcare markets or in rural clinics in developing countries, has significant advantages over current measurement methods. The patented LabNow system comprises an automated reader and assay-specific biochips. The CD4Now test enables clinicians to determine quickly and reliably if antiretroviral therapy is working for their patients. The CD4Now test uses a single drop of whole blood and requires less than 10 minutes to obtain CD4 counts.
"The introduction of the CD4Now diagnostic test gives us the opportunity to revolutionize the way that HIV/AIDS is managed worldwide," notes Richard Hawkins, the company's president and chief executive officer. "Considering the tens of millions of people who need this test, the potential impact is huge. We are now in a right position to capitalize on this opportunity."
Neil Iscoe, director of the Office of Technology Commercialization at The University of Texas at Austin, said the agreement is another example of the university's commitment to commercializing technologies developed by its faculty, "Under the direction of Dr. McDevitt, the university has spent over six years and filed over 30 patents developing the invention. We are pleased that we were able to license this breakthrough technology to LabNow, an international company based in Austin, Texas."
About LabNow
LabNow has developed the LabNow System to conduct healthcare related diagnostics at point of care. The company will begin marketing a first-of-its-kind test to obtain CD4 counts at point of care. This test is designed to provide a new level of ease, rapidity and specificity to determine if patients are achieving adequate response to anti-retroviral therapy in its treatment of HIV/AIDS.
For more information, visit us at www.LabNow.com
Contact
LabNow, Inc.
Stephen Ceresia
512.329.9998 x211
