Biohit to partner IBL International in GastroPanel distribution
Biohit Oyj June 20, 2013 at 6:15 local time (EET)
Biohit Oyj has signed a distribution agreement with German company IBL International GmbH to strengthen GastroPanel sales and marketing. The agreement covers exclusive rights to distribute GastroPanel in Germany. GastroPanel is a non-invasive blood test that reliably identifies both healthy and unhealthy stomachs as well as helps to prioritize patients for further examinations.
CEO Semi Korpela, Biohit Oyj: ”Partnership with IBL International will significantly strengthen our position in Germany.”
”This exclusive agreement fits into the strategy of IBL International to become the leading supplier of specialty immunoassays” says Dr. Jan Boesen, CEO of IBL International.
Additional information:
CEO Semi Korpela, Biohit Oyj
Tel. +358 9 773 86 333
investor.relations@biohit.fi
www.biohithealthcare.com
Biohit in brief
Biohit Oyj is a globally operating Finnish biotechnology company established in 1988. Biohit's mission is "Innovating for Health". The purpose of the company is to take social responsibility and produce innovative, new technologies and analytical systems for use in medicine, research institutions and industry. These innovations aim to promote research and clinical diagnostics, thereby improve the quality of life of people by means of preventing disease, human suffering and financial loss. We are committed to social responsibility and it is our duty to spread knowledge about the Group I human carcinogen, acetaldehyde. Even more so, to develop innovative diagnostic products that help reduce its deleterious effects on human health, market these products and make them widely available to the community. Biohit is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland with subsidiaries in China, Italy and the United Kingdom. Since 1999, Biohit's Series B shares (BIOBV) have been listed in the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Oy Small cap/Healthcare sector. www.biohithealthcare.com
IBL International in brief
IBL International GmbH is a life sciences company that is engaged in the development, manufacture , and distribution of one of the widest ranges of immunoassays for routine in-vitro diagnosis and research use. IBL International has direct sales organizations in The Netherlands, Germany and the US and an international distribution network on all continents. IBL International started its business in 1983 and is based in Hamburg, Germany. Since 2008, IBL International is part of a privately owned Dutch holding company. www.ibl.international.com.
Additional information about the GastroPanel examination:
GastroPanel developed by Biohit is a simple blood test for the diagnosis and screening of gastric disorders. GastroPanel test reliably detects H. pylori infection and damage or dysfunction of the stomach mucosa (atrophic gastritis), leading to acid-free stomach that is the most important risk factor for gastric cancer. Recent studies suggest that acid-free stomach is also a risk factor for esophageal cancer.
The April 2012 Maastricht IV consensus report of the European Helicobacter Pylori Study Group recommends blood sample biomarker tests as a reliable method to diagnosis of disorders in stomach mucosa and associated risk conditions. Researchers recommend biomarker tests for the diagnosis and follow-up of Helicobacter pylori infection and especially due to atrophic gastritis as well as for the screening of asymptomatic patients. (1)
16 gastroenterology experts of the international Healthy Stomach Initiative organization (www.hsinitiative.org) from 12 countries came to the same conclusion that blood biomarker tests are a reliable way to detect and screen for gastric diseases and their risk conditions. Biomarkers in GastroPanel detect reliably H. pylori infection and in addition, atrophic gastritis, which is the most important risk condition of gastric cancer. (2)
Microbes from the mouth can colonise an acid-free stomach and produce carcinogenic acetaldehyde from sugar and alcohol. In 2009, IARC (WHO agency on cancer research) classified acetaldehyde from alcoholic beverages (and naturally generated in alcohol) as group I carcinogen, being therefore as carcinogenic as asbestos, formaldehyde and benzene. (3). According to genetic studies this is one of the major risk factors of gastric and oesophageal cancer. The risk can be reduced with the help of another Finnish innovation – OTC product Acetium capsule, which are taken during meals and alcohol consumption, to bind (neutralise) carcinogenic acetaldehyde in the stomach.
GastroPanel provides an opportunity to direct the patients to correct examinations on time. GastroPanel reliably finds those patients whose stomach is "healthy" (patiens do not have H. pylori infection or acid-free stomach due to atrophic gastritis. GastroPanel blood test can therefore in most cases replace the expensive and uncomfortable gastroscopy. GastroPanel results significant resource and cost savings in healthcare.
Literature:
1. Malfertheiner P et al. Management of Helicobacter pylori infection--the Maastricht IV/ Florence Consensus Report. http://gut.bmj.com on May 18, 2012. European H. pylori Study Group, ESPSG.
2. Agréus L et al. Rationale in diagnosis and screening of atrophic gastritis with stomach-specific plasma biomarkers. Scand J Gastroenterol 2012;47:136-47.
3. World Health Organisation WHO, 2009. www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2009/pdfs/pr196_E.pdf.
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