Axis-Shield Signs Agreement with Hansa Medical for New Sepsis Assay

Axis-Shield the international in-vitro diagnostics company, today announces that is has signed a global agreement with Hansa Medical of Lund, Sweden, for exclusive rights to a diagnostic assay for heparin binding protein (HBP) as a promising marker for severe sepsis and related conditions. Under the terms of the agreement, Axis-Shield will develop tests for HBP and seek commercial partners to incorporate the assay on high-throughput laboratory systems.

Sepsis and septicaemia are increasingly problematic, particularly in intensive care patients and it is estimated that there are around 8 million admissions to ICU’s per annum in Western markets. Many patients admitted to hospital emergency departments are carrying infectious diseases and may be at risk of developing the complications of severe sepsis. Severe sepsis is often lethal and in the USA, more than 200,000 people die from this condition every year. However, for every hour that severe sepsis onset is identified and properly treated, survival rates increase by 7.5%. Currently available tests have not proved reliable and better methods for detection of this life-threatening complication of infection have been sought for some time. Preliminary clinical evaluation of HBP has shown improved specificity and sensitivity compared to existing methods.

Ian Gilham, Axis-Shield CEO, commented: “We are pleased to have signed this agreement with Hansa as we have been seeking an improved sepsis marker for some time. The HBP contract is part of our drive to identify and acquire rights to new markers with strong IP protection in areas of clinical need. The urgent medical requirement for better and earlier diagnosis of sepsis is well recognised and we will accelerate the development of the HBP assay to enable test commercialisation as soon as possible”.

“We are delighted to bring this promising assay to the market with an experienced partner like Axis-Shield.” says Emanuel Björne, CEO of Hansa Medical. “Axis-Shield will add invaluable assay development capacity as well as clinical validation expertise to this project. In our initial studies at Lund University Hospital, involving 300 patients, serum levels of HBP were shown to be a promising predictor for severe sepsis, compared to inflammation markers presently on the market. Early identification of individuals at risk of developing severe sepsis is key in order to save lives and reduce treatment costs.”