Redhill MAP test?

[Mommabear]

I went on the Redhill site and found this announcement. Does this mean that they will soon have a diagnostic test available? I know they have partnered with Quest Diagnostics to develop a test and they bought a technology from the University Of Minnesota, but I have not been able to get any other info.


H1/2015 - Expected announcement of regulatory and development plan for the Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) diagnostic test following FDA meeting scheduled for January 2015

 

[JMC]

This is very interesting, who developed the test at the University of Minnesota? I was aware Dr Saleh Naser had been working on a MAP test at University of Florida, but in the opinion of Prof. John Hermon-Taylor, who is also working on a test, it would not produce accurate results. Is there any information about the technology used in the test? I am really intrigued as I understand at least the basics of what Prof JHT is trying to do and would like to know whether someone else has done the same.

 

[Mommabear]

JMC, I am trying to get more information, but so far I haven't been successful. I wrote to Redhill and Quest Diagnostics and I have called them as well. I just wrote another person at Redhill yesterday. I am hoping I will get an answer back. They bought some sort of technology from the University, but no details are given. I thought that if I posted on this forum, maybe someone here would be able to enlighten me. When I find out more I will post it here.

 

[xeridea]

I'm almost 100% sure that the Red Hill diagnostics is being licensed from U. Of Central Florida/Dr. Saleh Nasser.

The technology is based on hybridizing magnetic relaxation nanosensors! Essentially, nanoparticles coated with a reagent that specifically binds to gentic markers of the MAP bacteria (even when the microbe is nesting within leukocytes/macrophages). It appears that once the nanoparticles bind in this way they change the proton relaxation time of the sample (blood) and can be picked up with instrumentation that detects this change.

Here is the exact description of the nanoparticle proble's construction from the patent filing:

These hMRS are composed of a polyacrylic acid-coated iron oxide nanoparticle onto which an oligonucleotide sequence (ATGTGGTTGCTGTGT) complementary to the IS900 sequence in MAP is conjugated to facilitate binding and detection.