Dengue is an endemic viral disease in more than 100 countries spread across Asia, Africa, Central and South America. Conventional methods such as viral isolation and serology tests are tedious, laborious, time consuming and requires skilful labour. Molecular diagnostic kits are the beacon of hope in endemic regions for survival. MyDENKit™ is the first of conventional PCR based molecular diagnostic kit in the world, which is the outcome of the public-private partnership between the University of Malaya and Geneflux™ Biosciences (http://www.geneflux.net.my). MyDENKit™ was launched by Dato’ Dr. Mohamed Isa Abd. Majid, Director General, Malaysia Institute of Pharmaceuticals and Nutraceuticals, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Malaysia; Prof. Dr. Muhamad Zakaria, Head, Technology Transfer and Commercialization Unit Institute of Research Management and Consultancy, University of Malaya (UM); Prof. Shamala Devi, Faculty of Medical Microbiology, University of Malaya (UM) and Mr. Zamri Osman from Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation (Biotech Corp.). Dr. Prashanth G.Bagali (Ph.D, PDF from NIH, Bethesda, USA), Director and Vice President of Geneflux™ / Krislee Ventures Inc., Maryland, USA highlighted the disadvantages of the existing methods of dengue detection, which have failed to detect multiple serotypes.
Existing method are not feasible for large scale screening and have delayed pre care management of patients resulting in increased number of dengue deaths every year. Dr. Bagali was launching the Flag ship product MyDENKit™, which is acronym for "Malaysian Dengue Kit" has made all the Malaysian Biotechnologists and microbiologists proud in the global arena. He proposed that identification of dengue virus serotyping plays an important role in the management of general public in endemic and epidemic regions of Malaysia. He sought the encouragement and quick action from the Ministry of Health in supporting the in-house product for the effective and efficient strategic planning for dengue control and surveillance. MyDENKit™ can simultaneously detect and serotypes all the 4 dengue strains in a single PCR reaction. Kit can analyze clinical samples rapidly, accurately and in high throughput screening platform up to 1536 samples in less than 5 hours.
There are no additional infrastructure requirements for carrying out the tests in diagnostic centres. Kit can be easily stored in hospitals and diagnostic centres up to 6 to 8 months. It is a cost effective solution compared to the existing methods. Dr. Prashanth Bagali highlighted that MyDENKit™ has specificity of 100% and sensitivity of 80-90%, based on global validation tests carried out in 8 countries namely, MALAYSIA, USA, SINGAPORE, THAILAND, CAMBODIA, CUBA, INDIA AND SUDAN.
Three countries (namely INDIA, SUDAN and SRI LANKA) have agreed to implement MyDENKit™ in their routine health care management and have requested for additional kits. Geneflux™ is busy in expanding the marketing of kit in the dengue epidemic and endemic regions in Asia and Africa. MyDENKit™ is developed under the "TechnoFund" grants from the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Malaysia.
Dr. Geetha is a Project Co-ordinator and headed Product Development Team. "We continue to recommend adoption of our molecular diagnostic kits in Malaysian hospitals and diagnostic centres across the ASEAN region", said Mr. Balaguru Naidu, Chief Executive Officer of Geneflux™. “Invention and Innovation are Our Corporate Culture. We will invest in the research and development of molecular diagnostic kits for tropical infectious diseases. Invention of HaemFlux™ has positioned us in forefront of many start-up and spin-off biotechnology companies in Malaysia and India. Innovation of MyDENKit™ has a great market potential and market requirement to be the leader in the molecular diagnostics market”. Geneflux™ is launching two more products namely MuRSAFlux™ and MyCMVKit™ by the mid of 2009. He acknowledged the support from the MOSTI, the University of Malaya (UM) and Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation (Biotech Corp) in the development and multilocation clinical validation of MyDENKit™. About the Geneflux™ Biosciences: Geneflux™ Biosciences (http://www.geneflux.net.my) is a multidimensional biotechnology and bioinformatics company specializing in product-oriented research, development and manufacturing of molecular diagnostic kits.
GeneFlux™ Biosciences is engaged in the development of emerging technologies and molecular diagnostic kits through innovative and collaborative research. Company has a Molecular Biology Laboratory in Malaysia, Bioinformatics Centre in India and Pharma Business Centre in Maryland, USA. Geneflux™ is a BIONEXUS Status Company in Malaysia. Company has set new benchmarks in Innovation and Quality that exemplifies the tremendous progress of Malaysian biotechnology in the global arena.
Molecular Diagnostic and Screening Services include screening and serotyping of dengue virus, CMV (Cyto Megalo Virus), MRSA (Methicillin Resistance Staphylococcus Aureus), BK and JC viruses, common respiratory viruses and nosocomial bacteria. Geneflux™ Biosciences has a state-of-art facility in the Technology Park of Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia. Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Laboratory is well equipped to carry out customized projects and product development activities in life sciences (medical, veterinary and plant sciences). Geneflux™ India (http://www.geneflux.co.in) is located in southern India and involved in the medium and large projects on bioinformatics, drug discovery and biotechnology.
The main focus of the organization is offering services in the field of medical microbiology, biotechnology, medical informatics, genomics, clinical proteomics, Cheminformatics and structural bioinformatics. Geneflux™ and Krislee Ventures Inc., have collaborated with two pharmaceutical companies in USA to provide services in the Computational Modelling, QSAR analysis, virtual screening and structural docking projects.
