mariPOC® Point-of-care Immunoassay Outperforms Standard Culture in Group A Streptococcal Infection Diagnostics

TURKU, Finland, May 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

ArcDia Ltd (http://www.arcdia.com). ArcDia International Ltd has released results from a clinical study comparing its rapid mariPOC® test product to the standard bacterial culture in detection of Group A streptococcal infections. The study results were presented at the GAS Infections 2013 conference, held in Rome in March, by Dr Jukka Vakkila from Mehiläinen. Mehiläinen is a leading private care provider in Finland.

The independent study included 121 patients who were tested for Group A streptococci with bacterial culture and mariPOC® rapid immunoassay. Bacterial culture was positive for 17 (14%) patients, whereas mariPOC® was positive for 31 patients (26%). The relevance of additional positive findings by mariPOC® was confirmed by clinical investigation of the patients. 90% of the additional positive findings were from patients with classical streptococcal tonsillitis symptoms and/or positive test result in a third diagnostic method.

"The results are in line with the previous data suggesting that mariPOC®  is a first rapid test to challenge the sensitivity of bacterial culture", concludes the presentation abstract by Dr Jukka Vakkila, who led the study at Mehiläinen, a leading private care provider in Finland.

"Standard culture was unable to diagnose a significant number of Group A streptococcal infections. In addition, mariPOC® produces results in 20 minutes whereas standard bacterial culture takes two days", comments Janne Koskinen, PhD, R&D Director at ArcDia International Ltd. "The new test enables physicians, for the first time, to trust in negative rapid test findings", he continues.

Earlier in 2013, ArcDia announced new additions to its management team and expansion of its distributor network in Europe.

About mariPOC^®

mariPOC^®   provides multianalyte diagnostic results for influenza like illnesses and tonsillitis in near patient settings in 20 minutes. The mariPOC^® applications are targeted to acute respiratory infections, the most common infectious diseases on Earth. mariPOC^® is superior in performance to the conventional test methods, including lateral flow rapid tests and standard bacterial culture. mariPOC^® is designed to improve patient management and quality of health care, and it allows timely pathogen-specific diagnostics and medication.

About ArcDia

ArcDia International Ltd is the manufacturer of mariPOC^®, world's first multianalyte point-of-care diagnostics test for respiratory tract infections. In the future, the company will develop additional point-of-care tests based on its proprietary ArcDia™ TPX detection technology. (Nature Biotech 2000:18). The technology is available for prominent industrial parties for in-licensing. Currently, ArcDia is actively seeking distribution partners for mariPOC^®. For more information visit http://www.arcdia.com

About Mehiläinen

The Mehiläinen Group is the best-known and most respected provider of private health care and social services in Finland. The Mehiläinen group is active in various sectors of the market for privately funded health care services and publicly funded health care and social services.

Currently, Mehiläinen's nationwide service network of privately funded health services consists of a total of 26 medical centres, occupational health centres which augment the service network, and 9 hospitals. On the publicly funded markets, the Mehiläinen group consists of 10 elderly care centres, 14 child welfare units and a psychiatric hospital for children, and 26 mental health rehabilitation units. Mehiläinen is a part of the Ambea Group, which is the largest private healthcare and nursing services provider in the Nordic countries.