New Fungal Infection Test

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Press Release Source: Associates of Cape Cod, Inc.

http://biz./prnews/040720/netu038_1.html

Associates of Cape Cod, Inc. Announces Publication of First Glucatell

® Clinical Study Results

Tuesday July 20, 3:48 pm ET

New Fungal Infection Test Uses Horseshoe Crab Blood-Based Reagent

EAST FALMOUTH, Mass., July 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Associates of Cape Cod,

Inc. (ACC), a leading manufacturer of endotoxin and beta-glucan

detection products and a major supplier to the pharmaceutical and

medical device industries, announced that the results of a clinical

diagnostic study of Glucatell®, its serum test for (1,3)-beta-glucan,

have been published in Clinical Infectious Diseases (CID. 2004;39:199-

205) on July 15. An abstract of the paper, by Odabai, Z. et al., can

be found at the following website:

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/CID/journal/issues/v39n2/32641/brief/

32641.ab stract.html

The study evaluated the clinical performance of Glucatell® in the

diagnosis of invasive fungal infection in patients with Acute

Myelogenous Leukemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome. The test

demonstrated a 100% sensitivity in patients with proven or probable

fungal infection, and when the test was negative it had a 100%

Negative Predictive Value. The Glucatell® test was positive a median

of 10 days before conventional clinical diagnosis of invasive fungal

infection.

Glucatell®, a horseshoe crab blood-based reagent, measures (1,3)-beta-

D- glucan present in patient serum. (1,3)-beta-D-glucan is a fungal

wall compound that is shed into the blood of patients during the

course of fungal infections. Glucatell® detects beta-glucan in the

serum of patients with symptoms of-or medical conditions predisposing

the patient to-invasive fungal infection and as an aid in the

diagnosis of deep seated mycoses and fungemias.

" This study presents strong clinical evidence of the utility of the

Glucatell® test in the diagnosis of invasive fungal infection, " said

Dr. A.J. Meuse, ACC's president and CEO. " The data from the study

illustrates that the high sensitivity and negative predictive value

of Glucatell® can assist physicians in discovering these hard to

diagnose infections much earlier than current diagnostic methods and

provide additional laboratory- based patient management information. "

About Associates of Cape Cod, Inc.

Associates of Cape Cod, Inc., based in East Falmouth, MA, is a leader

in the field of bacterial endotoxin and beta-glucan detection. A

wholly owned subsidiary of Seikagaku Corporation, the Company

pioneered the use of horseshoe crab blood extract, Limulus Amebocyte

Lysate (LAL), used in the testing of pharmaceuticals, medical

devices, and biologics, for the presence of potentially toxic

endotoxins and glucans. In 1977, the Company was the first to receive

an FDA license for the manufacture of this reagent. ACC's products

are marketed throughout the world under the trade names Pyrotell®,

Glucatell®, Pyrochrome®, and Chromo-LAL. The Company also offers

contract testing for endotoxins and glucans, and has a research

biochemicals division, Seikagaku America, specializing in

carbohydrate chemistry. For more information about Associates of Cape

Cod, Inc., and our products, please visit our website at:

http://www.acciusa.com.

Media Contact: Company Contact:

Amy B. Tarbox Debbie Fraser

press@... 508-540-3808 ext. 2228

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Source: Associates of Cape Cod, Inc.