Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - Monday September 29 11:13 AM EDT
David Rosenberg
Shiloov Medical Technologies Ltd said its ShiloovTube helps detect the presence of HIV antibodies in a patient's blood by accelerating their development in as little as one to two weeks after exposure.
In nature, antibodies can take six months or longer to develop in the body after a person is exposed to HIV (human immunodeficiency virus).
Tamar Jehuda-Cohen, who developed the technology and now heads Shiloov, said the ShiloovTube would help protect blood bank supplies from HIV contamination and allow people exposed to HIV to get diagnosis and treatment earlier.
HIV is the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). HIV and other viruses, for which Shiloov is developing similar solutions, are diagnosed indirectly through the presence of the antibodies created by the body to fight the virus, rather than by the virus itself.
"We believe that the HIV ShiloovTube and our other products will have a dramatic impact on the safety of the world's blood supply," said Jehuda-Cohen.
Closing the window between infection and diagnosis is critical for preventing the spread of AIDS by carriers mistakenly believing they are HIV-free.
"Every time you give a false negative answer (for the presence of HIV), people don't hear, 'You have to wait another six months for verification'. They'll never come back. Each person like that, according to World Health Organisation statistics, will infect another five," Jehuda-Cohen told Reuters.
She estimated that, world-wide, some 200 million blood and plasma samples are tested for HIV, a quarter of those in the United States.
Jerome Orlin, director of the blood bank at Tel Aviv's Rabin Medical Centre, told Reuters he believed the technology was "extremely significant" and would become increasingly important as AIDS spreads beyond high-risk populations.
"As it becomes more a heterosexual disease, people who don't think of themselves as in a high-risk group are more likely to give blood" without warning blood banks, he said.
The ShiloovTube does not actually diagnose HIV. Instead, the patented mix of biochemicals in the tube, mixed with a one millilitre sample of the patient's blood, speeds the production of antibodies. A conventional antibody diagnosis is then conducted to check for HIV.
Jehuda-Cohen and others who are familiar with the technology said the ShiloovTube did not involve additional equipment and was cost-effective, although Jehuda-Cohen declined to discuss the price per test.
The ShloovTube has already been approved for commercial use in Mexico. U.S. clinical trials are due to begin by the end of the year, and the company expects to seek final approvals by the end of 1998, Jehuda-Cohen said.
Shiloov is also developing diagnostic products for Hepatitis C and leukaemia (HTLV), both of which are in the pre-clinical stage. "This is a unique platform technology that accelerates the immune response for almost every antibody," said Jehuda-Cohen.
The company was formed on the basis of research on a monkey model of AIDS that Jehuda-Cohen, an immunologist, conducted in the United States. The company was formed in 1994 but only began commercial operations, with the backing of U.S. investors, a year ago.
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