UNION CITY, Calif.,
July 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/
-- Abaxis, Inc. (NasdaqGS: ABAX), a medical products company
manufacturing point-of-care blood analysis systems for both the
medical and veterinary markets, today announced that the Center for
Veterinary Biologicals of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
has approved its VetScan Canine Ehrlichia Antibody Test Kit for use
in rapid detection of canine Ehrlichia.
Clint Severson, chairman,
president and chief executive officer of Abaxis, said, "The USDA
approval of the VetScan Canine Ehrlichia Antibody Test Kit now
allows our customers to use our lateral flow rapid tests to detect
canine heartworm, Lyme and Ehrlichia. Each test can be purchased on
an individual basis so that each practitioner has the flexibility
to decide which tests to use based on such factors as the history
and presentation of the patient as well as the incidence of a
particular disease in his or her geographic area. This is the only
test approved for detection of antibodies to all three dominant
species impacting dogs in the US: E. canis., E.
chafeensis and E. ewingii. As a result this improves the
efficiency and the economics of carrying out such testing on these
vector-borne diseases."
Dr. Craig Tockman, vice president
of sales and marketing for North American Animal Health of Abaxis,
added, "This approval represents an important development in
Abaxis' ongoing program to provide veterinary professionals a wider
range of diagnostic options suited to the geographic locations in
which they practice. Because of the regional distribution of all
the tickborne diseases, the VetScan Canine Ehrlichia Antibody Test
Kit, which employs a patent-protected method of detecting
antibodies reactive to outer membrane proteins of the Ehrlichia
bacteria, will be an important new product in providing regionally
appropriate diagnostic capabilities that can produce improved
patient outcomes in a timely and cost-efficient manner."
About Abaxis
Abaxis develops, manufactures, markets and sells portable blood
analysis systems for use in any veterinary or human patient-care
setting to provide clinicians with rapid blood constituent
measurements. The system consists of a compact, 5.1 kilogram
(11.2 pounds), portable analyzer and a series of single-use plastic
discs, called reagent discs, that contain all the chemicals
required to perform a panel of up to 13 tests on veterinary
patients and 14 tests on human patients. The system can be
operated with minimal training and performs multiple routine tests
on whole blood, serum or plasma samples. The system provides
test results in less than 12 minutes with the precision and
accuracy equivalent to a clinical laboratory analyzer. The
veterinary business also provides to the animal health and research
market a line of hematology instruments for point-of-care complete
blood counts (CBC), a specialty instrument to screen for and detect
clotting disorders and to measure equine fibrinogen levels, a
handheld instrument for the rapid assessment of certain critical
care tests and rapid point-of-care tests for Heartworm infections,
Parvovirus, Giardia and Lyme disease.
Abaxis, through its AVRL division, provides routine laboratory
testing as well as specialty testing for veterinarians
nationwide. For more information, visit
http://www.abaxis.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes, and our conference call will
include, statements that constitute "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 (the "Reform Act"), including but not limited to statements
related to Abaxis' cash position, financial resources and potential
for future growth, market acceptance and penetration of new or
planned product offerings, and future recurring revenues and
results of operations. Abaxis claims the protection of the
safe-harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Reform
Act. These forward-looking statements are often characterized
by the terms "may," "believes," "projects," "expects,"
"anticipates," or words of similar import, and do not reflect
historical facts. Specific forward-looking statements
contained in this press release or in Abaxis' conference call may
be affected by risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited
to, those related to risks related to the transition of its U.S.
medical sales to Abbott, potential excess inventory levels and
inventory imbalances at the company's distributors, losses or
system failures with respect to Abaxis' facilities or manufacturing
operations, fluctuations in quarterly operating results, dependence
on sole suppliers, the market acceptance of Abaxis' products and
services, the continuing development of its products, required
United States Food and Drug Administration clearance and other
government approvals, risks associated with manufacturing and
distributing its products on a commercial scale free of defects,
risks related to the introduction of new instruments manufactured
by third parties, risks associated with competing in the human
diagnostic market, risks related to the protection of Abaxis'
intellectual property or claims of infringement of intellectual
property asserted by third parties and risks related to condition
of the United States
economy. Readers should also refer to the section entitled
"Risk Factors" in Abaxis' annual report on Form 10-K, recent
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and Abaxis' other periodic reports
filed with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the
date the statements were made. Abaxis does not undertake and
specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements.
Contact:
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Abaxis,
Inc.
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Lytham Partners,
LLC
|
|
Clint
Severson
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Joe Dorame, Robert
Blum and Joe Diaz
|
|
Chief Executive
Officer
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602-889-9700
|
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510-675-6500
|
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SOURCE Abaxis, Inc.