SensiGen LLC, an Ann Arbor-based biotech company, has exercised its option to exclusively license an ultra-sensitive human papillomavirus (HPV) detection test which was developed at the University of Michigan Medical Center.
The AttoSense HPV Test, developed in the laboratory of Dr. David Kurnit, can identify in a single assay each of the 15 unique genetic characteristics in HPV that cause cervical cancer in women. The test is superior to current standard methods because it virtually eliminates the errors that cause false negative or false positive results.
HPV --a sexually transmitted disease-- is associated with 99.7% of all cases of cervical cancer, the second most common form of cancer in women.
More than $2 billion are spent each year in this country to screen 55 million women for the presence of cervical cancer or its precursor lesions using the traditional "Pap smear."
Even with these tests, nearly 4000 women die of cervical cancer in the U.S. annually. Research indicates that an elimination of errors in early detection of HPV could reduce that number by 30% each year.
SensiGen believes that Dr. Kurnit's work has both great commercial and patient care potential.
Read more at www.sensigen.com.
Source: SensiGen
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