Business
Strategic collaboration with Bimelix Ab
Strategic collaboration with Bimelix Ab.
About this update from Abingdon Health Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \n \n \n Abingdon Health plc\n \n \n \n (\"Abingdon\" or \"the Company\")\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Strategic collaboration with Bimelix Ab\n \n \n \n \n Focused on the on development and commercialisation of Lyme disease lateral flow self-test\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n York, U.K. 12 May 2022:\n \n Abingdon Health plc (AIM: ABDX), a leading international developer and manufacturer of high quality and effective rapid tests, and Bimelix Ab (\"Bimelix\"), a Finnish-based accredited biomedical laboratory providing services including clinical and research-based diagnostics as well as the development of new testing methods, announce a strategic collaboration to develop, manufacture and commercialise a Lyme disease lateral flow self-test (\"LFT\").\n \n \n \n \n \n Abingdon and Bimelix have been collaborating for over 12 months on the feasibility of developing a Lyme disease LFT self-test. Under the terms of the agreement, Abingdon and Bimelix will jointly complete the development of the Lyme disease test and scale-up to manufacture, and will also be jointly responsible for the commercialisation of the test.\n \n \n \n \n \n Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, caused by spirochetes belonging to the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex, is the most common tick-borne infection in Europe. Currently, laboratory diagnosis of Lyme disease is mainly based on the patient's medical history, clinical signs and symptoms, in combination with the detection of Borrelia-specific antibodies, where indirect enzyme-linked-immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is the most widely used technique. Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migraines. This rash occurs in approximately 60-80% of infected persons and begins at the site of a tick bite after a delay of 3-30 days. A distinctive feature of the rash is that it gradually expands peripherally over a period of several days. If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system. Most cases of Lyme disease can be treated successfully with a course of antibiotics. \n \n \n \n \n \n The global risk of Lyme disease is expected to increase in the coming years as tick habitats expand in response to environmental factors and climate change. Therefore, there is a large unmet need fo...