Tag: Middle East

Company News: Curetis Expands Commercial Organization

Augmented direct sales force, led by new Head of International Sales to broaden reach in key European markets

New distribution partnerships in Italy and Middle East

Curetis AG, a developer of next-level molecular diagnostic solutions, today announced the strategic expansion of its sales and marketing program in Europe and the Middle East. The company appointed Klaudija Kiesinger as Head of International Sales for Western Europe and will add four new members to its broader international sales and marketing team by mid-year, bringing the total commercial team size to 14. With this sales force expansion, Curetis has added the U.K., France and the Benelux region (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) to its direct-sales markets.

In addition, the Company announced its increased reach into Italy and the Middle East with exclusive, multi-year distribution partnerships. Curetis will distribute the Unyvero Solution through Arrow Diagnostics in Italy and Al Zahrawi Medical in the Middle East (Qatar and the United Arab Emirates).

Since 2012, Curetis has grown to an installed base of more than 60 Unyvero analyzers. The Company currently has 80 systems in the supply chain for 2015, affording customers the potential to run assays covering more than 100 analytes in two highly-multiplexed application cartridges (P55 for pneumonia and i60 for implant and tissue infections). In 2015, the Unyvero product pipeline will be expanded and enhanced by the BC70 Blood Culture Application cartridge. In the coming years, Curetis plans to add further cartridge applications in the fields of sepsis, gastrointestinal tract infections, tuberculosis, CNS infections and pediatrics, among others.

At present, there are several investigator-initiated clinical studies in pediatric applications underway. Various potential pharma projects using Unyvero in clinical trial designs for the development of novel antibiotics afford Curetis additional opportunities for commercial expansion.

In addition to these platform and product enhancements, the Company is expanding its geographic scope, with an FDA trial underway in the U.S. and pre-commercial activities in Asia and other non-European countries.

Company News: Curetis AG Signs Distribution Deal in Middle East with ATC

– Kuwait Ministry of Health clears Unyvero™ Solution for clinical evaluation –

Curetis AG, an innovative molecular diagnostics company focusing on the development and commercialization of in-vitro diagnostic products for infectious diseases, today announced that it has signed an exclusive distribution deal for its Unyvero™ solution with Advanced Technology Company K.S.C. (ATC). ATC will become the exclusive distributor of the Unyvero Solution including consumables for the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the Lebanon.

Placement of instruments will start in the third quarter this year. A clinical evaluation project of the Unyvero™ Solution has been approved by the Kuwait Ministry of Health and will take place at leading clinical sites in the country. Curetis, ATC and the clinical investigators will cooperate closely during this phase, and are planning to publish evaluation data in 2013 at a renowned international medical conference.

Food for Thought: Weekly Wrap-Up

Can bioplastics, which is derived from renewable resources and biodegradable, become an alternative to conventional plastics made from mineral oil? Not yet, writes Nina Weber in Der SPIEGEL. Cultivation of raw material needs pesticides and fertilizers and the predominant bioplastics used to date is made from polylactic acid (PLA), which is biodegradable only at high temperatures. The prospects may become better – but only if PLA can be derived from plant remains and if enough PLA is on the market so that recycling is profitable.

Gardiner Harris in The New York Times reports on flaws in a widely cited lung cancer study involving more than 50,000 patients. The study’s conclusion that  80% of lung cancer deaths could be prevented through wide use of CT scans made the headlines in 2006. Now it seems that the researchers are unable to locate 90% of the consent forms so that  a confidential report evaluating the study on behalf of the lead study center recommend that the trial be stopped already in 2008. The study is still ongoing.

The New Scientist reports on findings that the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum can be killed by kinase inhibitors, common anti-cancer drugs. In in-vitro experiments at Lausanne Federal Polytechnic in Switzerland researchers exposed malaria-infected liver and blood cells to kinase inhibitors and observed that some of these compounds selectively killed the parasite, but not the cells.

Also in New Scientist, Ahmed Zewail, who won the Nobel prize in chemistry in 1999, claims that the Middle East is ripe for a scientific revolution.  At present, he states, Arab, Persian, and Turkish scientists as a group are underperforming as compared to colleagues in the West or Far East. Zewail thinks that the recent revolutions will open the door to improve on literacy, women’s participation and education and bear the chance to remove red tape and allow freedom of thought. He calls on partnering with Muslim countries to establish centers of excellence in science and technology.

Finally, Alex Knapp in Forbes introduces Justin, an impressive humanoid robot made in Germany by DLR, the German aerospace agency. So far, this incredible piece of German hard- and software engineering is used to catch two balls at once while making coffee. the akampioneer very much hopes he will learn better tricks to avoid the “invented in Germany, marketed elsewhere” pitfall.