Calypte Biomedical Announces Signing of Sublicense Agreement with Abbott Laboratories
09 August 2004 - 4:10PM
PR Newswire (US)
Calypte Biomedical Announces Signing of Sublicense Agreement with
Abbott Laboratories PLEASANTON, Calif., Aug. 9
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Calypte Biomedical Corporation (OTC:CYPT)
(BULLETIN BOARD: CYPT) , announced today that it has signed a
sublicense agreement with Abbott Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:ABT) for
certain worldwide rights to patents relating to the design,
manufacture and sale of lateral-flow rapid diagnostic tests. Under
the terms of the agreement, Calypte was granted certain worldwide
rights to use a family of patents known as the "Guire/Swanson"
patents. The technology underlying these patents is fundamental to
all lateral-flow rapid diagnostic tests. "We are pleased to have
received a license to the Guire/Swanson patents from Abbott," said
Dr. Richard George, CEO of Calypte. "The technology covered by
these patents is critical to the design of lateral-flow rapid
tests. We believe it is one of the essential licenses that will
provide us the freedom to manufacture and sell our emerging HIV
rapid diagnostic tests in the U.S. and around the world." Included
in the major themes of this year's recently completed XV
International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand were the
availability of low cost anti-retroviral drugs and the focus on
efforts to identify those people infected with HIV more quickly and
enroll them in therapy. Calypte plans to offer a menu of tests
providing the HIV testing community with the opportunity to choose
from a complete line of rapid tests that can be used to test urine,
oral fluid, and blood. Initial evaluations of Calypte's rapid tests
in Thailand show that all three tests were successfully proven to
be safe, efficacious and accurate. All three assays are being moved
into manufacturing sequentially. The technology transfer for the
blood rapid test to Calypte's Thailand manufacturer is underway,
with the objective of completing first pilot production later this
third quarter. Current HIV/AIDS Testing A May 2004 report by the
Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GBC), based on their own
estimates and that of the World Health Organization (WHO),
disclosed that less than 10% of infected individuals in the
developing world know their HIV status. According to the report,
new infections are on the rise, and only 400,000 of the 6 million
people in need of antiretroviral therapy have access to these life
saving medicines. Testing for HIV serves as an entry point for both
prevention and treatment. The objective of treating 3,000,000
people by the end of 2005, the stated goal of the WHO "3 by 5"
Initiative, would require that 500,000 people will need to be
tested each day. About Calypte Biomedical: Calypte Biomedical
Corporation, headquartered in Pleasanton, California, is a public
healthcare company dedicated to the development and
commercialization of in vitro diagnostic tests, primarily for the
detection of antibodies to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and
other sexually transmitted and infectious diseases. Calypte's
currently marketed laboratory-based tests include an enzyme
immunoassay (EIA) HIV-1 antibody screening test and an HIV-1
antibody western blot supplemental test, the only two FDA-approved
HIV-1 antibody tests for use on urine samples, as well as an
FDA-approved serum HIV-1 antibody western blot supplemental test.
Calypte is actively engaged in developing new test products for the
rapid detection of HIV and other infectious diseases. Calypte
believes that there is a significant need for rapid detection of
such diseases globally to control their proliferation, particularly
in lesser-developed countries, which lack the medical
infrastructure to support laboratory-based testing. Calypte
believes that testing for HIV and other infectious diseases may
make important contributions to public health. Statements in this
press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended. Those statements include statements regarding the intent,
belief or current expectations of the Company and its management.
Such statements reflect management's current views, are based on
certain assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual
results, events, or performance may differ materially from the
above forward-looking statements due to a number of important
factors, and will be dependent upon a variety of factors,
including, but not limited to, the Company's ability to obtain
additional financing, demand for the Company's products, the
Company's success in designing and developing products, the
Company's research and development costs, the length of development
and product acceptance cycles, the amount that the Company invests
in new business opportunities and the timing of those investments,
competition, the degree to which the Company enters into commercial
agreements and strategic transactions and maintains and develops
commercial relationships, foreign exchange risks, world events,
international growth and expansion and changes in laws and
regulations. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly
update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or
circumstances that occur after the date hereof or to reflect any
change in the Company's expectations with regard to these
forward-looking statements or the occurrence of unanticipated
events. Factors that may impact the Company's success are more
fully disclosed in the Company's most recent public filings with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including its
annual report on Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2003
and its subsequent filings with the SEC. Company Contact: Dr. J.
Richard George, President and CEO Calypte Biomedical Corporation
Telephone: 925-730-7200 Email: Investor Relations Contact: Tim
Clemensen Rubenstein Investor Relations Telephone: 212-843-9337
Email: DATASOURCE: Calypte Biomedical Corporation CONTACT: Company
- Dr. J. Richard George, President and CEO of Calypte Biomedical
Corporation, +1-925-730-7200, ; Investor Relations - Tim Clemensen
of Rubenstein Investor Relations, +1-212-843-9337, , for Calypte
Biomedical Corporation Web site: http://www.calypte.com/
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