Abbott's m2000(TM) Molecular Diagnostic Instrument and RealTime HIV-1 Test Win Chicago Innova...(s and thatinspires our scientists everyd...),Health

Sponsored by Kuczmarski and Associates and the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Innovation Awards are intended to create awareness of the contributions of Chicago-area companies in developing innovative products that change the world. Abbott and other awardees will be recognized at a ceremony and reception tonight at the Goodman Theatre attended by some 400 local business, academic and government leaders.

About the Abbott RealTime HIV-1 test and the m2000 instrument

Since the first diagnostic tests for the HIV virus came on the market in 1985, public health authorities have been concerned about the virus' ability to mutate and create new strains of subtypes that may elude detection. Optimal treatment of HIV depends on accurate measurement of viral levels, but if variant subtypes are present and undetected, drug therapy could be ineffective.

While many of the variant strains of the virus are not as prevalent in the United States as other countries, new studies suggest that that the influx of immigrants from areas of the world where these strains are more common is increasing the number of newly diagnosed patients infected with variant HIV.

"With more than 20 years of experience in HIV testing, our scientists identified a particular region of the HIV genome resistant to the impact of mutations, and were able to develop the first and only viral load assay of its kind capable of detecting and measuring all known strains of HIV," said John Robinson, Ph.D., senior director, Research and Development, Abbott Molecular.

The RealTime HIV-1 assay is intended to monitor disease prognosis and for use as an aid in assessing viral response to antiretroviral drug treatments. Quantitative measurements of HIV-1 levels in blood ha
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