Microsens Says Test Can Detect Mad Cow-Causing Prions in Blood; BloombergUK.com (May 27, 2004):

May 26 (Bloomberg) -- Microsens Biotechnologies, a closely held U.K. medical technology company, said it developed the first blood test that can detect the abnormal prions that cause the human form of mad cow disease.

Microsens's Seprion technology was able to find prions -protein particles -- in the blood of a patient with so-called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, the human form of mad cow, the London-based company said in an e-mailed statement. The test isn't ready for sale for use in humans, it said.

The European and Japanese markets for post-mortem BSE tests for cattle are worth about $125 million a year, the company said. The world market is expected to rise as the U.S. and other countries detect cases. The disease is diagnosed after death by autopsies. No accurate test exists for live subjects because the level of prions in blood is quite low, the company said.

Microsens has sold rights to Seprion technology to Westbrook, Maine-based IDEXX Laboratories Inc. for use in a post- mortem test for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and to Toyko- based Sanko Junyaku Co. Seprion has U.S. Department of Agriculture approval for testing for BSE and chronic wasting disease in deer.

The test uses a ligand that attaches to abnormal proteins, the company said. Microsens is releasing the data at the NeuroPrion Conference in Paris today.

A study released last week by the U.K.'s National CJD Surveillance Unit in Edinburgh said that thousands of residents may have been infected with the fatal illness, which has been linked the consumption of infected beef. The prions fold improperly in the brain, leaving large dead spots and killing the victim.

Japan, the biggest buyer of U.S. beef, and more than 40 other nations suspended imports of the meat in December after a cow in Washington state was found with the disease, threatening exports valued at $3.8 billion a year. Japan bought more than $1 billion of U.S. beef last year. About 10 percent of U.S. beef is exported, with Tyson Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc. the largest shippers. Japan and the U.S. will hold discussions in the next few months on lifting the ban.