Message #14 From:
NewsBot Date: December 26, 2006 03:00:00 AM
CMED News China Medical Successfully Completes Development of Liver Fibrosis Diagnostic Reagents
BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--China Medical Technologies, Inc. (the “Company”)
(NASDAQ: CMED), a leading China-based medical device company that
develops, manufactures and markets high intensity focused ultrasound
products and advanced in-vitro diagnostic systems, today announced that
it has successfully completed the development of four liver fibrosis
diagnostic reagents that use enhanced chemiluminescence immunoassay (“ECLIA”)
technology. Upon introduction of these four new reagents in early 2007,
China Medical’s total kit offering will
increase to 62, which places the Company among the largest ECLIA reagent
kit manufactures in China.
China Medical’s four new liver fibrosis
reagents are designed to measure hyaluronic acid (“HA”),
laminin (“LN”),
collagen type IV (“IV-COL”)
and procollagen type III N-peptide (“PIIINP”)
in human serum. The measurement of these four markers may be used to
assess the degree of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis in chronic liver
disease. Chronic infection with hepatitis B or hepatitis C virus can
lead to long-term liver damage including fibrosis, cirrhosis, and liver
cancer.
In China, approximately 120 million people are infected with hepatitis,
which represents about 9% of China’s total
population. The Chinese Ministry of Health estimates that 1.2 million
people were newly infected with viral hepatitis in 2005. Regular
measurement of liver fibrosis markers is an effective procedure to
determine the fibrosis stage, which in turn allows doctors to make
timely and appropriate decisions for managing chronic liver disease. The
Company believes the quantitative results delivered by these liver
fibrosis reagents are of value to the treatment of liver fibrosis and
the prevention of liver cirrhosis.
“Measurement of liver fibrosis markers allows
for a non-invasive, accurate and early means of detecting chronic liver
disease,” said Mr. Xiaodong Wu, Chairman and
CEO of China Medical. “We are pleased to
introduce these innovative products which will benefit a large group of
people who are affected by chronic liver disease. China has very high
number of hepatitis patients and there are few effective alternatives
available in the market that help detect the level of fibrosis. For
these reasons, we believe doctors in China will be very interested in
these new reagents and it is expected that the reagents will provide a
boost to the average kit consumption of our ECLIA analyzers.”
About China Medical Technologies:
China Medical Technologies is a leading China-based medical device
company that develops, manufactures and markets products using high
intensity focused ultrasound for the treatment of solid cancers and
benign tumors and advanced in-vitro diagnostics products using enhanced
chemiluminescence immunoassay technology, to detect and monitor various
diseases and disorders. For more information, please visit our website
at www.chinameditech.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements
constitute “forward-looking”
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of
1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be
identified by terminology such as “will,”“expects,”“anticipates,”“future,”“intends,”“plans,”“believes,”“estimates” and
similar statements. Among other things, the Company’s
statements that it expects to introduce the above-mentioned reagents,
and that it believes that such reagents will be of value to the
treatment of liver fibrosis and the prevention of liver cirrhosis, and
doctors in China will be very interested in such reagents which will in
turn provide a boost to the average kit consumption of the ECLIA
analyzers are forward-looking statements. Such statements involve
certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Further
information regarding these and other risks is included in China Medical’s
filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its
annual report on Form 20-F. China Medical does not undertake any
obligation to update any forward-looking statement as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as required under
applicable law.