European Patent Granted for Monthly Epinex Diabetes Test

The European Patent Office has granted Epinex Diagnostics the patent for the first 'Rapid Test for Glycated Albumin.' The patent is for Epinex' G1A™ Rapid Diabetes Monitoring Index Test, a test with the potential to improve the way diabetes is managed through monthly glycation monitoring at the point-of-care.

The G1A™ is a monthly diabetes test that gives the user a ratio of glycated albumin (GA) to total albumin. High levels of GA indicate protein damage caused by sugar in the blood, indicating diabetes complications. Because albumin is replenished in the body every 3-4 weeks, patients are able to monitor their diabetes up to 12 times per year. Large scale studies have shown that monthly diabetes monitoring and counseling is effective in reducing costs and improving patient outcomes.

Diabetes accounts for 10-30% of healthcare costs in Europe and the U.S. According to Chris Delicata, President of International Diabetes Federation Europe, European efforts to prevent diabetes are "dramatically underfunded and poorly acknowledged."

"The patent is our first step in introducing the G1A™ test into the European market and staging a paradigm shift toward monthly diabetes monitoring that will help doctors and patients prevent complications and reduce the exorbitant healthcare costs associated with the disease."

"The G1A™ test takes only minutes to run," says Asad Zaidi, Epinex CEO. "This will eliminate the time lag of conventional lab testing and allow doctors to monitor and adjust drug and behavior therapies much more quickly than current testing allows. We expect that use of our test will enhance the safety and effectiveness of diabetes drugs and could help prevent the onset of chronic complications such as blindness, kidney failure, and heart disease for the millions of Europeans living with diabetes."

Epinex Diagnostics is a private medical device company that develops innovative point-of-care diagnostic tests.  www.epinex.com