Innogenetics NV, Murex sales and marketing update

MURXF's 250-person sales force began worldwide marketing of INNX's LiPA HIV-1 RT test, which detects multiple resistance-associated mutations in the HIV reverse transcriptase (RT) gene. Product approval is pending in France; sales in the U.S. will be for research purposes only pending additional clinical trials necessary for FDA approval.

The line probe assay uses a membrane coated with DNA probes to check the status (wild-type or mutated) in a single patient sample of codons 41, 69, 70, 74, 184, 214, and 215 in RT, which are associated with resistance to Glaxo-Wellcome's AZT, Bristol-Myers Squibb's Videx ddI, Hoffmann-La Roche's Hivid ddC, and BioChem Pharma Inc.'s Epivir 3TC. The second-generation test, which will be used in trials in the U.S., is expected to include detection of mutations associated with multiple-drug resistance and resistance to non-nucleoside RT inhibitors. ...