Celebrating 6 Years of World-Leading Progress: 2011 marks the 6-year anniversary of Canadian approval of INSTI
Richmond, B.C. – Oct 25, 2011. Canadian life sciences firm bioLytical Laboratories is marking the milestone 6th anniversary of the approval of its INSTI Test in the Canadian market. Increasingly recognized as the fastest diagnostic HIV test in the world, the INSTI HIV Antibody Rapid Test Kit, first introduced in Ontario, has now been adopted by provinces across Canada, evidence of significant progress in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS in Canada.
To date, INSTI is the only rapid in vitro qualitative test approved in Canada for the detection of antibodies to HIV in human whole blood, finger-stick blood, serum or plasma specimens. By utilizing innovative flow-through technology, INSTI is able to generate accurate results in as little as 60 seconds. INSTI’s speed and ease-of-use not only allow many more tests to be administered, but its ability to provide patients with nearly instantaneous results also enable more efficient and effective early treatment of HIV/AIDS in diverse patient settings, from hospital emergency rooms to public health clinics.
In this year of our sixth anniversary since approval by Health Canada, the broader adoption of INSTI by British Columbia as part of the STOP HIV/AIDS pilot represents significant, continued progress in HIV testing in Canada, says Rick Galli, Chief Technical Officer, bioLytical Laboratories. bioLytical is proud to see this innovative, locally developed solution now making a real difference within British Columbia and more widely across Canada and in many other countries around the world, adds Colin MacGillivray, bioLytical Chief Operating Officer and CFO.
INSTI utilizes just three reagents in ready-to-use test vials, and incorporates a unique, built-in human IgG-capture control feature to ensure the proper sample addition and test validity. This has the potential to eliminate the need for more costly and time-consuming tests currently available on the market, making access, availability, and efficiency more attainable goals for health care providers, especially within hard-to-reach and high-risk communities.
The simplicity of INSTI’s procedure, which entirely removes the need for counting drops, measuring, or timing, and eliminates the need for refrigeration has helped to broaden adoption of HIV testing. Increased continuity of pre- and post-test counselling has also significantly improved patient prevention and treatment education and the patients overall clinical experiences since administering the test and obtaining results can be completed so quickly.
For more information, call bioLytical at 888-316-0351 or visit www.biolytical.com.
-30-
Media Contact
Rebecca Peters
Laura Ballance Media Group
604.637.6649 (direct)
604.762.2098 (mobile)
Rebecca@LBMG.ca