New Cancer Diagnostic Launch Marks First Step In Joint Venture For

Tridelta Development Ltd.

Tridelta Development Ltd. have just returned from the Veterinary Cancer Society Annual Conference in Albuquerque, USA where the company announced the launch of a new type of diagnostic assay for the detection of lymphoma in dogs.

The new kit is the first product of a new joint venture which Tridelta is also delighted to be announcing between PetScreen, Nottingham, U.K. (www.pet-screen.com) and Tridelta Development Ltd (www.trideltaltd.com ) to develop, manufacture and market a unique range of veterinary cancer diagnostic kits under the banner of ‘Tri-Screen’ (www.tri-screen.net).  The Tri-Screen Canine Lymphoma Assay kit was unveiled in the USA and is now available to enable laboratories world-wide to offer veterinarians this advanced testing system. A Tri-Screen feline lymphoma assay kit is in the advanced stages of development.

Developed by PetScreen in the UK, the announcement is a significant breakthrough in the accurate diagnosis of canine lymphoma with the major benefit being that it differentiates between patients with lymphadenopathy due to lymphoma and lymphadenopathy due to other ailments such as lymphoid hyperplasia. 

For the past two years, PetScreen’s research team have been busy characterising and identifying the biomarkers used in their earlier lymphoma blood test.  They found that two of the markers are acute phase proteins (APP’s).  Although APP’s have been investigated in veterinary medicine for some time PetScreen has developed a unique multi-marker approach which led to the development of patented and copyrighted analytical algorithms which combine the relative values of both Haptoglobin and C-Reactive Protein (CRP) in serum. 

Enlisting the support of vets in the UK and USA, the assay has been rigorously tested with 224 canine patients with lymphoma, benign lymphoid hyperplasia and other diseases with similar presentation to lymphoma.

By testing the acute phase proteins using immunoassay, PetScreen achieved excellent levels of high performance, reproducibility and objectivity. The combination of the three diagnostic elements enables accurate differentiation with a very high degree of sensitivity and specificity which ensures that an appropriate treatment regimen can begin at a critical early stage of disease identification and development.

A unique aspect of the assay is that test results are available immediately.  Clients simply log onto www.tri-screen.net and once their individual logon reference has been entered together with the APP values and some additional patient data, the result is displayed.  Each reference laboratory client is provided with their logon key which will last for the life of each 42 assay kit.

Petscreen worked closely with Tridelta during the research phase, utilising the Company’s leading veterinary APP diagnostic assays and manufacturing expertise within this area and when the results obtained indicated the value of the new assay system, the earlier co-operation between the two companies coupled with Tridelta’s reputation and experience within the international pharmaceutical industry, research and laboratory sectors, made a Joint Venture between the two companies to make the assay available to the global reference laboratory market an obvious next step.

Each company brings its own strengths to the Tri-Screen brand of diagnostic kits:  for Tridelta it is an important step into the companion animal marketplace and for PetScreen, the opportunity to globalise and advance their veterinary diagnostics expertise in this important and rapidly emerging sector.

Tridelta was brought back into local hands last year when it was the subject of a management buy-out by the current directors, Brian Hett and Martin Gallagher. Since then the Company has seen a 20% increase in sales for the first half of 2011 against the same period of 2010 resulting in strong, profitable first-half growth with expectations of further increasing profitability through the remainder of the financial year. The Company is currently exporting over 98% of its production to 30 countries across the globe, numbering major international pharmaceutical, research and academic organisations amongst its extensive client base.