15 February 2012, San Diego and Atlanta — MediPurpose, a master medical product distributor and manufacturer, today announced its agreement to provide SurgiLance safety lancets in a special packaging configuration to CLIAwaived, a wholesale point-of-care diagnostics product distributor.
 
CLIAwaived joins MediPurpose’s expanding network of international point-of-care (POC) diagnostics product companies. Within recent months, MediPurpose has announced similar relationships with POC manufacturers and distributors in the United States, the United Kingdom and Austria.
 
Through its Website, CLIAwaived.com will offer SurgiLance’s SLN100 26-gauge safety lancet and SLN200 23-gauge safety lancet.
 
“The continued adoption of our safety lancets by POC diagnostic testing companies worldwide validates the core values of our medical products: safety, comfort and ease of use,” said MediPurpose Director of Marketing Derek Rudnak. “The SLN100 and SLN200 are among the best safety lancets for POC diagnostic blood collection because they can produce appropriate amounts of blood while causing minimal pain to the patient.”
 
The SLN100 and SLN200 are among SurgiLance’s six safety lancet modelsthat range from 18–26 gauges and 1.0–2.3 mm penetration depths. Valued for its safety, comfort and ease of use, the SurgiLance safety lancet is one of the top selling fingerstick devicesin the United States and is available to healthcare professionals through a broad network of distributors, both in the United States and globally.
 
What are CLIA-Waived Medical Products?

The term “CLIA waived” originates from the Clinical Laboratory Improvements Amendments (CLIA) law that was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1988. This law established quality standards for all laboratories in order to ensure efficiency of testing procedures, in addition to the accuracy and timeliness of test results. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was designated as the law's regulatory body.
 
In 1992, when the CLIA law was enacted, provisions were made for tests that were considered to be both simple to administer and reliable in results.  These tests were given the designation “CLIA waived” as they are not subject to the same level of regulatory scrutiny as more complex diagnostic tools.
 
CLIAwaived.com provides customers with access to many of the tests that appear on the waiver list and is known as a “one-stop source” for CLIA-waived POC diagnostics.
 
For more information about SurgiLance safety lancets, including no-cost product sample requests, please visit www.medipurpose.com/surgilance.

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About CLIAwaived

CLIAwaived has been distributing products throughout the world since 2003. CLIAwaived™ services thousands of Certificate of Waiver Labs, physician offices, hospitals, ambulatory care centers, employers, academic research centers, government agencies, schools, rehabilitation programs, youth and criminal justice systems and more.
 
For more information about CLIAwaived, please visit www.cliawaived.com.

About MediPurpose

Founded in 1999, MediPurpose is a leading medical device company headquartered in Singapore, with offices in the United States and Europe.
 
Known for its popular babyLance® heel incision device, SurgiLance® safety lancet and MediPlus™ advanced wound care products, MediPurpose has leveraged its success in the medical device industry to become a master medical product distributor that provides unique solutions for both medical product manufacturers and distributors.
 
MediPurpose's Medical Device Innovation division offers angel funding and developmental expertise for new medical device inventors and innovative medical product companies that seek entrance into new medical device markets.
 
For more information about MediPurpose’s medical products and solutions for inventors, innovators, manufacturers and distributors, please visit www.medipurpose.com.

Media Contacts
Patrick Yi, Founder and CEO
tel: +1-770-448-9493
e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Michael Riddle, Executive Vice President and CCO
tel: +1-770-448-9493 ext. 233
e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Derek Rudnak, Director of Marketing
tel: +1-213-545-1344
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07 December 2011, Fort Collins, CO – Inviragen, Inc. presented results of the Phase 1 clinical trial of DENVax conducted in Colombia at the annual American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) meeting today. In this randomized, placebo-controlled study of 96 healthy adults, DENVax was safe and well tolerated and induced significant neutralizing antibody responses to all four dengue virus subtypes. The most frequent adverse events reported were transient local injection site reactions.

“In this Phase 1 study, DENVax generated neutralizing antibody responses to all four dengue strains in a majority of subjects after two doses separated by only three months,” noted Dr. Jorge Osorio, Inviragen’s chief scientific officer. “We believe this rapid immunogenicity sets DENVax apart from other dengue vaccines in development that require three doses. We are now testing DENVax in dengue-endemic countries and in multiple age groups. Upon further clinical testing and regulatory approval, we believe our two-dose dengue vaccine will provide a meaningful benefit for the 3.6 billion individuals living in endemic regions, as well as for international travelers.”

The Inviragen Phase 1 study was conducted in Colombia in collaboration with the Program for the Study and Control of Tropical Diseases (PECET) at Universidad de Antioquia. To ensure that the study participants had not been previously exposed to dengue, the trial was conducted in Rionegro, Colombia, a high-altitude area with no Aedes aegypti, the mosquito responsible for transmission of dengue. The clinical trial assessed the safety and immunogenicity of two different formulations of the tetravalent DENVax vaccine delivered by either subcutaneous or intradermal injection. Two doses of DENVax or placebo were administered to healthy, dengue-naive adults on days 0 and 90. Results demonstrate that the vaccine was well tolerated. The most common systemic reactions -- headaches, colds and nausea -- were observed at similar frequencies in the DENVax and the placebo groups. Importantly, very few fevers, rashes or other dengue-like symptoms were seen in the vaccinated participants. After two doses, DENVax induced neutralizing antibody responses to at least three of the four dengue serotypes in 89 - 100% of individuals. Based on these encouraging Phase 1 clinical results, Inviragen has initiated an international Phase 2 study designed to assess the safety and immunogenicity of DENVax in dengue-endemic regions and in both children and adults.

“The prevalence of dengue has been steadily increasing in South America. In tropical countries such as Colombia, it can have a devastating impact on public health,” commented Professor Ivan Dario Vélez, director of the PECET and principal investigator for the DENVax trial. “We are encouraged by the safety and immunogenicity profile demonstrated by DENVax in this Phase 1 trial. Moreover, we believe that the ability to offer broad protection rapidly after only two doses would be of great importance for the future uptake of a dengue vaccine in endemic countries worldwide.”

Presentation Details

Date & Time: 3:00pm ET, December 7, 2011

Oral Session: Flavivirus: Dengue - Antivirals and Vaccines

Title: “A Recombinant Live Attenuated Tetravalent Dengue Vaccine Induces Neutralizing Antibodies to All Four Dengue Viruses in Healthy Adult Volunteers”

Date & Time: December 7, 2011

Location: Poster Session D; Abstract 1327

Title: “Safety of a Recombinant Live Attenuated Tetravalent Dengue Vaccine in Healthy Adult Volunteers”

The ASTMH annual meeting draws more than 3,500 global health professionals from around the world, and features more than 1,000 scientific presentations.

The meeting is being held December 4-8, 2011 in the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, in Philadelphia, PA.

About Inviragen, Inc.

Inviragen is focused on developing vaccines to protect against infectious diseases worldwide. Inviragen's lead product candidate is a vaccine to protect against dengue fever. Inviragen is also developing vaccines to protect against hand, foot and mouth disease and Japanese encephalitis, both of which affect millions of children in Asia. Vaccines in preclinical research stages include a chikungunya vaccine, a low-cost human papilloma virus vaccine, vaccines to protect against new forms of influenza, a vaccine to protect against West Nile and a combination plague/smallpox vaccine for biodefense. Inviragen has offices in Colorado, Wisconsin and Singapore. Please see www.inviragen.com for more details.

Contact at Inviragen: Dr. Dan Stinchcomb +1.970.372.4754 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Media contact: Aline Schimmel +1.312.238.8957 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

01 February 2012, Singapore - Genome Institute of Singapore’s (GIS) Associate Director of Genomic Technologies, Dr Yijun RUAN, led a continuing study on the human genome spatial/structural configuration, revealing how genes interact/communicate and influence each other, even when they are located far away from each other. This discovery is crucial in understanding how human genes work together, and will re-write textbooks on how transcription regulation and coordination takes place in human cells.
 
The discovery was published in Cell, on 19 January 2012. The GIS is a research institute under the umbrella of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).
 
Using a genomic technology invented by Dr Ruan and his team, called ChIA-PET, the Singapore-led international group, which is part of the ENCODE (ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements) consortium, uncovered some of the fundamental mechanisms that regulate the gene expression in human cells.
 
“Scientists have always tried to understand how the large number of genes in an organism is regulated and coordinated to carry out the genetic programs encoded in the genome for cellular functions in our cells. It had been viewed that genes in higher organisms were individually expressed, while multiple related genes in low organisms like bacteria were arranged linearly together as operon[1] and transcribed in single unit,” Dr Ruan explained. “The new findings in this study revealed that although genes in human genomes are located far away from each other, related genes are in fact organised through long-range chromatin interactions and higher-order chromosomal conformations. This suggests a topological basis akin to the bacteria operon system for coordinated transcription regulation. This topological mechanism for transcription regulation and coordination also provides insights to understand genetic elements that are involved in human diseases.”
 
GIS’ executive director Prof Huck Hui NG said: "This is an important study that sheds light on the complex regulation of gene expression. Yijun's team continues to use the novel method of Chromatin Interaction Analysis with Paired-End-Tag sequencing to probe the higher order interactions of chromatin to discover new regulatory interactions between genes."
 
“This publication describes ground-breaking work by Dr Yijun Ruan and his team at Genome Institute o Singapore,” added Dr Edward Rubin, Director of the Joint Genome Institute in US. “They address the fundamental question of how communication occurs between genes and their on and off switches in the human genome. Using a long range DNA mapping technology called ChIA-PET, the study reveals in three dimensional space that genes separated linearly by enormous distances in the human genome can come to lie next to each other in the cell when it is time for them to become active. I expect this study to move rapidly from primary scientific literature to textbooks describing for future students the operating principles of the human genome. The ChIA-PET technology, that is the telescope used in this exploration of the human genome, is an innovative and powerful molecular technology invented by Dr Ruan and his collaborators.”
 
The ENCODE is an ongoing project which was awarded to Dr Ruan’s team by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), an institute belonging to the National Institutes of Health (NIH, USA). The project was set up in 2003 with the aim of discovering all functional elements in the human genome to gain a deeper understanding of human biology and develop new strategies for preventing and treating diseases. So far Dr Ruan’s team has received over US$2 million towards this project.
 
 
Notes to the Editor:
Research publication:
The research findings described in the press release can be found in the 19 January 2011 advanced online issue of Cell under the title “Extensive Promoter-Centered Chromatin Interactions Provide a Topological Basis for Transcription Regulation”.
 
Authors:
Guoliang Li,1,10 Xiaoan Ruan,1,10 Raymond K. Auerbach,2,10 Kuljeet Singh Sandhu,1,10 Meizhen Zheng,1 Ping Wang,1 Huay Mei Poh,1 Yufen Goh,1 Joanne Lim,1 Jingyao Zhang,1 Hui Shan Sim,1 Su Qin Peh,1 Fabianus Hendriyan Mulawadi,1 Chin Thing Ong,1 Yuriy L. Orlov,1 Shuzhen Hong,1 Zhizhuo Zhang,3 Steve Landt,4 Debasish Raha,4 Ghia Euskirchen,4 Chia-Lin Wei,1 Weihong Ge,5 Huaien Wang,6 Carrie Davis,6 Katherine Fisher,7 Ali Mortazavi,7 Mark Gerstein,2 Thomas Gingeras,6 Barbara Wold,7 Yi Sun,5 Melissa J. Fullwood,1 Edwin Cheung,1,8 Edison Liu,1 Wing-Kin Sung,1,3
Michael Snyder,4,* and Yijun Ruan1,9,*
 
1.    Genome Institute of Singapore, 138672, Singapore
2.    Program in Computational Biology and Departments of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
3.    Department of Computer Science, School of Computing, National University of Singapore, 117417, Singapore
4.    Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine, Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
5.    Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
6.    Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11797, USA
7.    Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
8.    School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637551
9.    College of Life Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
10. These authors contributed equally to this work
 
*Correspondence: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (M.S.), This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (Y.R.)
 
 
Contact
Winnie Lim (Ms)
Genome Institute of Singapore
Office of Corporate Communications
Tel:      (65) 6808 8013
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 
 
About the Genome Institute of Singapore
The Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) is an institute of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). It has a global vision that seeks to use genomic sciences to improve public health and public prosperity. Established in 2001 as a centre for genomic discovery, the GIS will pursue the integration of technology, genetics and biology towards the goal of individualized medicine.
 
The key research areas at the GIS include Systems Biology, Stem Cell & Developmental Biology, Cancer Biology & Pharmacology, Human Genetics, Infectious Diseases, Genomic Technologies, and Computational & Mathematical Biology. The genomics infrastructure at the GIS is utilized to train new scientific talent, to function as a bridge for academic and industrial research, and to explore scientific questions of high impact. www.gis.a-star.edu.sg
 
 
About the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)
The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) is the lead agency for fostering world-class scientific research and talent for a vibrant knowledge-based and innovation-driven Singapore. A*STAR oversees 14 biomedical sciences and physical sciences and engineering research institutes, and six consortia & centres, located in Biopolis and Fusionopolis as well as their immediate vicinity.
 
A*STAR supports Singapore's key economic clusters by providing intellectual, human and industrial capital to its partners in industry. It also supports extramural research in the universities, and with other local and international partners. www.a-star.edu.sg

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[1] In genetics, an operon is a functioning unit of genomic DNA containing a cluster of genes under the control of a single regulatory signal or promoter.