UNION CITY, Calif.,
March 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/
-- Abaxis, Inc. (NasdaqGS: ABAX), a medical products company
manufacturing point-of-care instruments and consumables for the
medical, research, and veterinary markets worldwide and providing
reference lab services to the veterinary and research markets in
the United States, today announced
that the Center for Veterinary Biologicals of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) has cleared its VetScan Anaplasma Rapid Test
Kit for the detection of A. phagocytophelium and A.
platys in canine whole blood, serum, or plasma samples.
Clint Severson, chairman,
president and chief executive officer of Abaxis, said, "The USDA
approval of the VetScan Anaplasma rapid test signifies the
completion of the first phase of our vector borne disease rapid
tests for dogs. Combining this test with the geographically
relevant test for Lyme, Ehrlichia, or Heartworm allows the
Veterinarian to choose the most appropriate diagnostic tests for
their patients while saving both the practice and pet owner
significant money. Abaxis will continue to develop cost-effective
and relevant rapid tests to aid the veterinarian in diagnosing
disease in their patients."
Dr. Rajesh Mehra, director of
research and development at Abaxis, said, "The approval of our
VetScan Anaplasma Rapid Test Kit allows us to now offer a complete
assessment of tick-borne diseases based on our unique blend of
novel peptides which are reactive with species-specific antibodies,
coupled with targeted amplification on a rapid test format."
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, Lyme disease, Ehrlichia and
FeLV/LV. 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, 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'
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:
|
Clint
Severson
|
Lytham Partners,
LLC
|
|
Chief Executive
Officer
|
Joe Dorame, Joe Diaz
& Robert Blum
|
|
Abaxis,
Inc.
|
602-889-9700
|
|
510-675-6500
|
|
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SOURCE Abaxis, Inc.