Global Leaders in Perinatal HIV Prevention and Treatment Strategies Implementing MedMira Rapid HIV Test in Soweto
8 minutes ago - ACQUIREMEDIA
HALIFAX, June 17 /CNW/ - MedMira Inc., ("MedMira") (TSX Venture: MIR, NASDAQ: MMIRF), a developer of rapid diagnostic technology and solutions, announced today that its Reveal Rapid HIV Antibody Test (Reveal HIV) is being utilised at the Perinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU) in Soweto, a township of 2 million people on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa, with an HIV prevalence rate of 11%. MedMira's strategic business development partner in Africa, Vitest AG, has been working with the PHRU team for past several months to integrate Reveal HIV into its prevention initiatives.

"Testing is a central component of the PHRU's prevention and treatment strategies and a high speed, quality rapid test will increase their efficiency as they expand the programs to test greater numbers of people," said Nicholas Dellaportas, Director of International Business Development and Sales, Vitest AG. "Reveal HIV has proven itself to be an excellent point of care HIV test for the PHRUs programs, delivering highly accurate results within 3 minutes."

The PHRU, affiliated with University of Witwatersrand and based on the campus of the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, the largest acute care hospital in the world, is on the forefront of pioneering research and implementation of HIV prevention and treatment strategies. The PHRU offers the people of Soweto access to HIV screening, preventative services, education, and support. The PHRU are currently scaling up testing and prevention initiatives through the expansion of mobile testing clinics and male circumcision programs.

"We are very pleased to be working with the team at PHRU, global leaders in the HIV/AIDS sector, to support their prevention and testing initiatives with a quality rapid HIV test," said Hermes Chan, CEO, MedMira Inc. "Our two organizations share the belief that testing is a critical component in halting the growth of HIV. The PHRU are innovators and we look forward to working with them in their new mobile testing programs in Soweto."Established in 1996 by Professors Glenda Gray and James McIntyre, the PHRU initially focused on mother-to-child HIV transmission, shaping national and international guidelines. The PHRU introduced couples HIV counselling and testing in South Africa, established a novel way to target adolescents through outreach centres, and was the first research unit to being HIV vaccine research in South Africa.

Prior to being implemented with organizations such as the PHRU, Reveal HIV underwent a critical and required study at South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and met its rigorous evaluation criteria. The NICD is a public health oriented, laboratory-based, national facility that acts as a resource of knowledge and expertise in regionally relevant communicable diseases to the South African Government, to SADC countries and the African continent.

About Vitest AG

Vitest AG is a privately held company based in Wollerau, Switzerland with a corporate subsidiary in Germany (Vitest GmbH) and South Africa (Vitest Southern Africa Ply). Vitest is the manufacturer/distributor of medical rapid tests and known well for their high quality products. The company provides doctors offices, clinics, private companies, NGOs and government institutions with innovative rapid tests. With the introduction of the MedMira product range to the African and European markets, Vitest takes the lead in the latest disease prevention movement to reduce the number of new infections in the developed and the developing world, by making better diagnostics more widely available.

For more information about Vitest, please visit www.vitest-ag.eu

About MedMira

MedMira is a leading developer and manufacturer of flow-through rapid diagnostics. The company's tests provide hospitals, labs, clinics and individuals with reliable, rapid diagnosis for diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C in just three minutes. The company's tests are sold under the Reveal(R), Multiplo(TM) and Miriad brands in global markets. MedMira's rapid HIV test is the only one in the world to achieve regulatory approvals in Canada, the United States, China and the European Union. MedMira's corporate offices and manufacturing facilities are located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

For more information visit MedMira's website at www.medmira.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements, which involve risk and uncertainties and reflect the company's current expectation regarding future events. Actual events could materially differ from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors including, but not limited to, changing market conditions, successful and timely completion of clinical studies, uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process, establishment of corporate alliances and other risks detailed from time to time in the company quarterly filings.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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