hpv competitors, page-8

Well done to Anoir, who pretty much covered the areas I was going to in response to Redfaces' concerns re market issues with TruScreen and CerviScreen (with plenty of value-add ... nice post).

However, I'll also point out the following in response to some of Redfaces' points:

Re: >>> 'PLT claims that it has its own test' <<<
===
... how is it that 'PLT claims'?
To quote ASX release 'Polartechnics acquires breakthrough cervical cancer screening patents' from 13th September 2006:-

>>>>>>>>
- PLT acquires key patents for detection of cervical cancer-causing virus HPV
- New patents to fill key new markets niche in PLT’s Women’s Health portfolio
- Scrip-funded acquisition

ASX-listed biotechnology company Polartechnics Limited today announced it has reached agreement to purchase a key group of internationally-applicable patents for methods of detecting human papillomavirus (HPV), from Biosearch nternational Pty Ltd.

The HPV detection patents being acquired are the result of pioneering work by Professor Brian Morris at the University of Sydney, and use the Nobel Prize-winning polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology that has become a universal method in use throughout the biotechnology
industry.

Mr Robert Hunter, Executive Chairman of Polartechnics, said: “Persistent infection with high risk HPV types is now accepted as the cause of cervical cancer - a major women's health issue that sees about 450,000 women diagnosed each year worldwide and that has a high mortality
unless diagnosed early.”

Mr Hunter said the potential for HPV screening was enormous, given its favourable comparison with the existing Pap smear screening method, which has a high false negative rate, and so has to be repeated at frequent intervals.

Because a negative HPV test is highly accurate and cervical cancer takes many years to develop, primary screening with HPV does not need to be performed as frequently.

“The acceptance of the association between HPV and cervical cancer has created a paradigm shift in thinking about screening for cervical cancer, with attention now shifting to detection of HPV infection,“ said Mr Hunter.
Results emerging from various large trials in Europe and North America attest to the efficacy and greater sensitivity of HPV testing as a primary cervical screening method.

“An added advantage of HPV testing is that the sample can be self-collected by the woman.”

“In Australia, about 40% of women do not participate in the Pap smear screening program. Overseas experience has shown that many of these women are happy to participate in a self sampling screening program.”
<<<<<<<<


Re. >>> 'All i am saying is that a) we don't actually know very much about the PLT test and how good it is in practice' >>>
===
... to quote PLT's ASX announcement 'On Track to Deliver on Commercialization Strategy' on 25 February 2008:

>>>>>>>>
Validation testing of the CerviScreen® HPV test has indicated that this test compared to other available HPV DNA tests has the best ability to identify disease in women (1)
<<<<<<<<

(the fine-print at the bottom)
>>>>>>>>
(1) The Summary of HPV PCR Typing Assays; 14 Feb 2008; HPV Testing Laboratory Royal Women’s’ Hospital Melbourne. The CerviScreen HPV test passed pilot testing on 200 CIN3 positive HPV samples with fales negative rate of 5% compared to Histology, and 3% compared to Cytology. These rates were lower than the available commercial HPV test indicating that the CerviScreen HPV test “has the best ability to identify disease in women.”
<<<<<<<<

Cheers.

p.s. with the US markets down on Friday night, you'd imagine a negative day Monday on the local market ... it'll be interesting to see how PLT fairs. It has been supported quite strongly towards the end of last week, but will new sellers appear on a bad day? (assuming no releases from PLT of course)

p.p.s. Redfaces, if you haven't yet read it, please note the 'ps' from my post on Sunday ... I'm still wondering what the result was from your previous thread topic ...