FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J., Feb. 5, 2016 – BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical technology company, today announced it has entered into a licensing and distribution agreement for clinical tests from DiabetOmics Inc., a private global medical diagnostics company, with headquarters in Portland, Oregon. The company has developed new pregnancy-specific metabolic tests to provide early identification for preeclampsia and gestational diabetes.
Preeclampsia is the second-leading cause of maternal death and gestational diabetes is the most common prenatal complication, affecting up to 16 percent of pregnancies worldwide. DiabetOmics has identified glycosylated fibronectin (GlyFn) as a biological marker for the early identification of both conditions. BD plans to create simple, affordable assays using GlyFn on its BD Veritor™ point-of-care diagnostic platform. BD also plans to distribute DiabetOmics’ own point-of-care tests and reader, currently under development, in select international markets.
“BD has a long history of developing innovations to address unmet health needs and making these accessible throughout the world,” said Gary Cohen, executive vice president and president of Global Health for BD. “We are focusing on maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity because these are areas of significant unmet need, particularly in resource-poor settings. Having an affordable, accessible and easy-to-use testing platform for the identification of both preeclampsia and gestational diabetes will be a large step forward to improve maternal health around the world.”
Sri Nagalla, CEO of DiabetOmics, said, “DiabetOmics is pleased to enter into this agreement with BD. We believe BD has the ability to establish global access to these innovative tests for women around the world. Our company’s mission is to advance the health and wellbeing of pregnant women at risk for preeclampsia and diabetes through the application of clinical insight and advanced technology aimed at improving the diagnosis and monitoring of these conditions and their resulting complications.”
Subject to confirmation in clinical trials, BD ’s new approach is expected to provide test results for gestational diabetes significantly earlier than current testing methods. Early diagnosis can enable earlier diet and lifestyle interventions that improve outcomes. For preeclampsia, subject to confirmation, the new test is expected to identify women at high risk for the condition earlier in pregnancy or provide a confirmatory diagnosis for those with suspected symptoms.
The BD Veritor™ System enables testing at the point of care with rapid results. Its portability is a key attribute to help serve developing markets. The digital display eliminates the need for a laboratory evaluation and subjective interpretation of lab results, while providing lab-quality accuracy for any user.
For more than a century, BD has applied its technologies, resources and institutional knowledge to help address fundamental health issues around the world. BD Global Health works to strengthen health systems and to develop and deploy market appropriate technologies that address priority health needs in areas such as HIV, tuberculosis, immunization and maternal and newborn health.
About BD
BD is one of the largest global medical technology companies in the world and is advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics and the delivery of care. The company supports the heroes on the frontlines of health care by developing innovative technology, services and solutions that help advance both clinical therapy for patients and clinical process for health care providers. BD and its 65,000 employees have a passion and commitment to help enhance the safety and efficiency of clinicians' care delivery process, enable laboratory scientists to accurately detect disease and advance researchers' capabilities to develop the next generation of diagnostics and therapeutics. BD has a presence in virtually every country and partners with organizations around the world to address some of the most challenging global health issues. By working in close collaboration with customers, BD can help enhance outcomes, lower costs, increase efficiencies, improve safety and expand access to health care. For more information on BD, please visit bd.com
For more information on BD, please visit bd.com.