The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Microarray-based test for H1N1 flu launched

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Wednesday, May 06, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Microarray-based test for H1N1 flu launched

Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: Ocimum Biosolutions has announced the launch of a microarray-based test (research use only) for the latest version of H1N1 flu. The test would be made available after three weeks on receiving approval from regulatory authorities.

In a press release here on Tuesday, the company said that it updated its custom chip probes using sequence information from the latest strain of the swine flu from the National Center for Biotechnology Information site. Most of these sequences have been submitted worldwide in the past 96 hours. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Food and Drug Administration have authorised the emergency use of an RT-PCR based molecular diagnostic assay to identify cases of swine flu in the current outbreak in the US. The microarray was developed on Ocimum’s custom OciChip array platform three years ago when the first cases of the avian flu outbreak occurred. The company said that it could also provide an RT-PCR based molecular diagnostic assay for use in India and Asia. Anu Acharya, CEO, Ocimum Biosolutions said, “the RT-PCR assay and the microarray will quickly identify the H1N1 virus in patients diagnosed with Influenza A as some older tests may not pick this new strain. In a public health emergency like this, we want to make sure that we identify the right strain which is not picked up by current tests. We are ready to work with various public health labs in India and the region.”

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