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Response Biomedical Achieves Superior Performance Targets With Rapid Flu A Test Development
Development Program Initiated for RAMP Test Specific to H5N1 Strain

30 Nov 2005 - Response Biomedical Corp. announced the Company has successfully achieved its analytical sensitivity targets for its Flu A Test. It is intended that the test be commercialized for both human and animal applications. Using a variety of Flu A strains, the performance results to date indicate that the RAMP Flu A Test produces results that are in excess of 100 times more sensitive than commercially available rapid influenza A tests. This superior level of performance is particularly important as leading public health agencies continue to express caution about the lack of sensitivity and related performance limitations of currently available rapid Flu A tests.
 
Response Biomedical also announced it has initiated development of a separate RAMP test to specifically identify only the H5N1 strain, the lethal form of Avian Flu that is spreading internationally and threatens to cause a global influenza pandemic. Early feasibility testing has produced encouraging results.
 
As a result of these expressions of interest, Response Biomedical is entering into collaborations with several government health organizations and international members of the World Health Organization's Global Influenza Surveillance Network. These National Influenza Centers will evaluate the sensitivity of Response's rapid RAMP Flu A Test across numerous flu strains and measure the sensitivity and specificity of the RAMP H5N1 Test for Avian Flu.