SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Arbor Vita Corporation, a biotechnology company, announced today that it has signed an agreement with the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) to speed the development of the company's rapid influenza diagnostic based on its proprietary PDZ technology. PDZs are proteins that organize and regulate many signaling pathways in human cells that can be useful for both therapeutics and diagnostics.
Under this Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), the NHRC's respiratory disease laboratory's diverse influenza sample archive will be used to validate Arbor Vita's rapid influenza diagnostic under the government's pandemic preparedness and avian influenza directives. Arbor Vita will provide the assay materials to be tested and validated, and then incorporate assay improvements and optimizations into a test suitable for use in the military, public, and private sectors. NHRC will be responsible for providing the validations samples and performing the assay validation experiments.
Public health officials are concerned that if the bird flu virus mutates into a contagious form that causes human-to-human transmission, the results could trigger a worldwide pandemic that could kill millions. Pandemic preparedness requires multiple approaches: early diagnosis is critical, along with vaccines, containment and drug therapy. While most current research has been focused on vaccine development to prevent human infection, Arbor Vita is applying its expertise to the development of a rapid, easy-to-use test that is highly sensitive for the strain of influenza known to cause bird flu.
"Rapid detection of avian influenza outbreaks is crucial for preventing the spread of any highly pathogenic influenza outbreak in humans," commented Peter Lu, M.D., founder, president and chief executive officer of Arbor Vita Corporation. Arbor Vita is developing a PDZ-based influenza test capable of distinguishing avian influenza (H5N1) from other circulating influenza (H3N2 & H1N1). "Our test targets a viral protein that exists in a specific form in avian influenza and appears to be the common element shared by all avian viruses," Dr. Lu added. Importantly, it does not appear to mutate and thus provides a unique biochemical characteristic that Arbor Vita is exploiting for diagnosis of today's and tomorrow's avian flu infection. Such a test would be useful for field applications throughout the world, including support of surveillance conducted by the military through its network of global laboratories.
About Arbor Vita Corporation
Arbor Vita (www.arborvita.com) is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel drugs and diagnostics addressing disease through a new family of targets, PDZ proteins. PDZ proteins are critical elements that organize and regulate many signaling pathways in human cells. Arbor Vita is pioneering the development of therapeutics and diagnostics through their unique understanding of the role of PDZs in cell signaling and disease. The company is tackling major health issues including cancer; infectious diseases such as influenza; stroke and cardiovascular disease.
Arbor Vita CorporationCONTACT: Debra Bannister of Arbor Vita Corporation, +1-530-676-8001, ordebra.bannister@arborvita.com
Web site: http://www.arborvita.com//
