Biomagnetics Diagnostics deploys IOBS testing technology

Sep 9 2009

Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp. (Pink Sheets: BMGP), a developer of revolutionary diagnostic systems and technology for HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis, and malaria detection, today announced its entry into the Integrated Optical Biosensor System (IOBS) market. IOBS are a relatively new classification of pathogen detection equipment which use advanced fiber optic-based technology to detect a wide variety of human and animal pathogens. These devices are specifically designed to be field deployable and ultraportable allowing for very rapid detection of various viral and bacterial pathogens by relatively untrained personnel outside of the laboratory setting. Biomagnetics Diagnostics is in advanced discussions with the developers of one of the most advanced intellectual property protected IOBS platforms in existence.

“We are very excited to be entering this potentially very lucrative market. The first two areas we will be targeting are the markets for field detection of malaria and bovine tuberculosis,” commented Clayton Hardman, CEO of Biomagnetics Diagnostics, Corp. “There is significant demand throughout the world for advanced field deployable testing technologies for both of these markets and it is our goal to provide these products to meet this pent up demand. The technology we plan to deploy, however, is not limited to just malaria and tuberculosis testing, but can be easily adapted to test in the field or within the clinical setting for a wide variety of pathogens. In most cases the use of an IOBS will allow relatively untrained personnel to produce accurate test results in less than 15 minutes. We believe this technology holds the potential to revolutionize several medical, environmental and Homeland Security-related diagnostic markets.”

According to the World Health Organization, some 3.2 billion people, or about half the world's population is at risk of malaria transmission in 107 countries and territories worldwide. While there are between 350 million and 500 million new cases of malaria each year, there are very few reliable and field deployable diagnostic tools available. In the case of malaria, early detection substantially improves treatability and survivability. TB (tuberculosis) is the second leading cause of death from infectious disease worldwide. Bovine TB is a growing problem throughout the world with an estimated 1.3 billion cattle at risk. In the United States, where the cattle industry is valued at $60 billion annually, the use of existing diagnostic tests currently add $5.00 to $15.00 on average per head to the cattle industry's costs. Field deployable integrated optical biosensor systems hold the promise to significantly speed the diagnostic testing process and to meaningfully lower costs.