VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Response Biomedical Corporation (TSX: RBM, OTCBB: RPBIF) today announced that it has received product registration from China’s State Food & Drug Administration (SFDA) to sell the RAMP® 200 Reader in the Chinese market. O&D Biotech China Co. Ltd., Company’s distributor in China, assisted in the registration application.
“Today’s announcement speaks to our strong ability to commercialize leading diagnostic products in the Chinese market,” said S. Wayne Kay, Chief Executive Officer. “This is a pivotal step forward in increasing our market penetration in this region and we are excited about the growth potential for RAMP® 200 in China. The market potential for our diagnostic products in China is rapidly expanding and we believe we have the necessary resources and partnerships in place to meet the growing market demand for RAMP® 200 and our cardiac diagnostic tests. Response is in a fantastic position to expand our presence in China. We currently have in place distribution agreements supporting our product representation in China for the next two years. We are most appreciative of the continued support of our Chinese partners to realize this expected growth.”
It was estimated that China spent $120 billion in 2010 to establish universal healthcare coverage and the country is expected to build 400 new hospitals per year for the next ten years. The market for IVD products in China is estimated to be approximately $2 billion per year and should show growth of 15-20% per year for the next five years. By 2015, or earlier, China is expected to be the third largest consumer of in vitro diagnostic products.
RAMP® 200
The RAMP® 200 Reader has innovative design features, including the multi-port capability to run 18 tests per hour on one module and up to 36 tests per hour, using three modules. This allows tests to be run on multiple patients simultaneously or multiple assays to be run for one patient. The RAMP® enabling platform is PC-based, allowing for easy software upgrades and includes data management and interface options unique to this platform.
About Response Biomedical
Response Biomedical develops, manufactures and markets rapid on-site diagnostic tests for use with its RAMP® Platform for clinical and environmental applications. RAMP® represents a new paradigm in diagnostics that provides high sensitivity and reliable information in minutes. It is ideally suited to both point of care testing and laboratory use.
The RAMP® system consists of a Reader and single-use disposable test cartridges, and has the potential to be adapted to more than 250 medical and non-medical tests currently performed in laboratories. RAMP® clinical tests are commercially available for the early detection of heart attack and congestive heart failure through our commercial partners, Roche and Shionogi and through select international distributors.
In the non-clinical market, RAMP® Tests are currently provided for the environmental detection of West Nile Virus, and Biodefense applications including the rapid on-site detection of anthrax, smallpox, ricin and botulinum toxin. Several other product applications are under development.
Response has achieved CE Marking for its Reader and clinical tests and its Quality Management System is registered to ISO 13485:2003 and ISO 9001:2008.
Response Biomedical is a publicly traded company, listed on the TSX under the trading symbol "RBM" and quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol "RPBIF". For further information, please visit the Company's website at www.responsebio.com.
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