Biomagnetics Diagnostics to develop handheld testing platform for malaria and bovine TB

Sep 29 2009

Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp., (PINK SHEETS:BMGP) a producer of revolutionary diagnostic systems and technology for malaria, tuberculosis, HIV and hepatitis testing today announced it has received a equity-based financing commitment up to $1 million from investors and an anonymous philanthropic source. These funds will be used to further develop the company’s unique handheld testing platform targeting the areas of malaria and bovine tuberculosis testing.

“We are very excited to be receiving this equity investment as it shows the significant commitment of our investors to furthering our corporate goals," commented Clayton Hardman, CEO of Biomagnetics Diagnostics. “We view our technologies as potentially revolutionizing pathogen testing in a variety of important markets. Our first goal is to finalize our government laboratory partnership, which we believe will be occurring over the coming weeks. We will then use these new funds to quickly move this technology into the field where we believe a significant market exists. We have already landed our first commitment from China's third largest dairy and we believe many other organizations are eagerly awaiting our market entry.”

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 through out 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.