Press release

6 March 2008

FIND and Eiken Chemical Co. LTD. announce major advance in collaboration to develop rapid diagnostic test for tuberculosis

Some members of Eiken and FIND in Japan end of 2007

The goal of the joint TB test development, based on the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) method developed at Eiken, is to detect bacterial DNA directly from clinical samples in less than two hours with minimal instrumentation. “One of the major technical challenges is the treatment and handling of the sputum specimen used for initial diagnosis at the level of the microscopy laboratory,” stated Dr. Mark Perkins, Chief Scientific Officer at FIND. “Sputum is a very variable matrix, is bio-chemically complex and can contain blood and other substances which if not removed can inhibit standard molecular amplification methods. The Eiken scientists have discovered a very exciting and potentially revolutionary method to overcome this major technical hurdle.”

“The FIND-Eiken collaboration was founded on the joint vision of a TB test that is affordable and useable even in remote locations where there is an urgent need for a fast, easy and cost-effective way to diagnose tuberculosis,” said Dr. Giorgio Roscigno, FIND CEO. “This is a major technological advance in our collaboration and FIND shall now carry out field trials of this novel technology to demonstrate the value of this approach.”

According to Senior Vice President and Executive Officer of Eiken, Junji Morikawa, ”This extremely simplified DNA preparation method would be applicable to biological samples such as blood, urine, and swab smear. We expect the method to be effective for the detection of infectious diseases such as malaria, HIV, HAT, and many others which are commonly found in developing countries.”

About TB

• Tuberculosis is a contagious disease spread primarily by coughing. It is prevalent in developing countries, and up to a third of the world’s population is infected;
• TB is one of the greatest threats to health worldwide, with nearly 9 million new cases and 2 million deaths a year due to the disease;
• The spread of TB has been exacerbated by (i) the increase in the number of people who travel; (ii) the worldwide rise of multidrug-resistant TB strains; and (iii) the global spread of HIV, with increased susceptibility to tuberculosis;
• Sputum microscopy, currently the most widely used method to detect tuberculosis, is cumbersome and insensitive, leaving many patients undetected. Bacterial culture is more sensitive, but takes 4-6 weeks to complete, and is too complex for most settings where TB patients are seen;
• The HIV pandemic has led to a resurgence of TB as a major public health problem. Immunodeficient HIV-positive patients are particularly vulnerable to TB, which is responsible for the deaths of at least 40 per cent of patients in this group.

About FIND

The Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics was launched at the World Health Assembly in May 2003 as a non-profit Swiss foundation based in Geneva. Its purpose is to support and promote the health of people in developing countries by sponsoring the development and introduction of new but affordable diagnostic products for infectious diseases.

About Eiken

Eiken Chemical Co., Ltd., has over 60 years of experience in medical diagnostics, and was the first Japanese company to successfully commercialize the manufacture of powdered culture media for microbiological investigations. The company has established itself as a leader in the clinical diagnostics market, and has a strong commitment to research and development toward products and technologies that fill needs at the cutting edge of contemporary medicine. The LAMP technology, developed at Eiken in 1998, is now a core technology being exploited to develop a range of products.

Related documents

• Description of LAMP technology
• Article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Swiss, Japanese scientists unite to tackle TB
  Non-profit, biomed firm to work on fast, cheap diagnostic test

Media inquiries:

Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND)
Jewel Thomas,
Communications and Advocacy Coordinator
Tel.: +41 (0) 22 / 710 27 86
E-mail: jewel.thomas@finddiagnostics.org

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