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Tepnel Diagnostics extends major supply agreement of its cystic fibrosis screening kits
French Cystic Fibrosis Screening Programme renews its agreement to purchase kits for a further three years

09 Aug 2006 - Tepnel Life Sciences PLC has been awarded a three year extension to its current Supply Agreement to provide ELUCIGENE(tm) DNA testing kits to the "Association Française pour le Dépistage et la Prevention des Handicaps de l'Enfant (AFDPHE)". In 2002 the French government funded a national neo-natal screening programme which screens every newborn in France for cystic fibrosis, a debilitating and usually fatal disease. A contract to supply ELUCIGENE(tm) kits to the AFDPHE was originally signed in April 2002 and under this latest extension is effective until April 2009.
 
Early identification of the disease can ensure that the appropriate treatment and support is provided to the child and its parents. All newborns in France (approximately 800,000 p.a.), are pre-screened for raised levels of immuno-reactive trypsin (IRT). Newborns that exhibit a high level of IRT are further screened by DNA testing to confirm the disease.
 
These DNA tests are exclusively performed with the ELUCIGENE(tm) CF30 testing kit developed by Tepnel Diagnostics to test for the 30 most frequent Cystic Fibrosis mutations in the French population.