Proteus' Web Site
Low-cost BSE test on carcasses
More on test to check cattle for BSE
Faster beef tests 'will detect BSE'
Success over BSE test boosts firm
Stock jumps 42% on BSE screening success
Commentary on new test
Proteus International Web Site: 5 Mar 1997
How does the test work?
"Antisera containing antibodies to specific regions on the prion protein were collected. By linking antibodies to various markers, their presence can be detected. The principle of the Proteus test is that a sample material is first treated with proteolytic enzymes, then exposed to prion antibodies. If the antibodies bind to the sample, rogue prion is present. If no antibodies bind, rogue prion is not present and the animal is unlikely to have BSE."Does the test work?
"The usefulness of Proteus' diagnostic test has been confirmed in two independent assessments on cattle brain tissue which showed the test was completely in agreement with conventional pathological diagnosis."Why isn't the test being used?
"Proteus' test is currently validated for cattle showing clinical symptoms of BSE. Proteus has not been able to validate the test in animals with sub-clinical disease. Furthermore, the test as validated is relatively complex, involving brain tissue samples which require examination under the microscope. The sample preparation process takes two days which is unacceptable for large scale usage. Confirmation that Enfer have successfully adopted the BSE test to their automated technology is anticipated towards year end."Eileen Mccabe and Michael Hornsby ... Times February 21 1997 Low-cost BSE test on carcasses
Routine, low-cost testing of all beef carcasses for signs of "mad cow' disease could become a reality within months if field trials of a new detection technique are successful, it was claimed yesterday. If the test works it would offer complete reassurance to consumers and could be used in Britain to screen carcasses for BSE before export, enabling the ban on British beef to be lifted .
The test, developed by Enfer Scientific, an animal diagnostic service company in Dublin, and Proteus International, a Macclesfield-based drug discovery company, takes just over three hours to carry out compared to the present elaborate laboratory examinations of cattle brain, which can take up to two weeks. According to Enfer, a team of four technicians using a single testing unit could check 1,000 beef carcasses a day.
Describing the development as a "world breakthrough ", Michael O' Connor, Enfer's technical director, said the test used new technology, in conjunction with standard immuno-assay and chemiluminescent techniques, to detect the presence of the abnormal prion protein associated with BSE. "Abattoirs would send us samples of spinal cord or other nervous tissue with the potential to carry the BSE infection. In a matter of hours we could give them the results of the analysis," he said. "We would charge a fee, but it would be set at an economic level."
Ivan Yates, the Irish Minister of Agriculture, welcomed the developments, saying it was good news for farmers and consumers. The Irish Department of Agriculture's veterinary research laboratory has independently confirmed the test's ability to detect BSE in nervous tissue. In London, however, the Ministry of Agriculture questioned the claims being made for the test. "It is not obvious that it is better than other existing tests. Our understanding is that it only works on tissue from animals already showing clinical symptoms of the disease ."
Mr O'Connor of Enfer said: "We believe that the test is capable of detecting BSE infection in carcasses from cattle which are not yet showing clinical symptoms . We are ready to throw open our doors to any scientists who want to examine our data."
21.2.97 S. Dealler New test to check cattle for BSE
Enfer Scientific, an Irish company, have announced a swift test for the presence of the prion. The test takes 3.5 hours using central nervous tissue. Laboratory trials have been very successful. The company is now moving to field trials with the Department of Agriculture.
Michael O'Connor, technical director of Enfer Scientific pointed out that there is a 15 hour window between killing an animla and the carcase being chilled. It is during this period that the screening test will be performed. The test brings together the use of antibodies and the luminescence of certain chemicals. ronic Telegraph, 21 February
Nick Woolf, an analyst an Nomura International, said Proteus's BSE test was the only one available and sales by its worldwide licensee, Enfer Scientific, in Ireland alone could yield Proteus royalties of $2m a year. The potential market for all Europe could be "15 to 20 times bigger". The shares rose 17 to 57.5p. The test uses light to detect abnormal proteins which indicate the presence of BSE.
By David Brown, Agriculture Editor ... Telegraph: 21 February 1997 Faster beef tests 'will detect BSE'
A Research company claimed yesterday to have found a faster test to protect consumers from BSE in cattle slaughtered for meat. The development, by Dublin-based Enfer Scientific, could give extra protection to consumers worried about eating beef from animals infected by the fatal brain disease. The move was described by Ivan Yates, Ireland's agriculture minister, as "potentially very exciting".
The firm said that the post-mortem test, which has been validated by the Irish agriculture department, @@could identify the prion protein associated with BSE within three hours . It currently takes up to 14 days. Mr Yates said the process, which had worked well in laboratory conditions, would be given exhaustive field trials. A team of four scientists can conduct up to 1,000 tests a day on dead cattle to prevent infected animals entering the human food chain.
Michael O'Connor, Enfer's technical director, said: "The real significance of the test is that it can examine a large number of carcasses and get the results back before the meat enters the human food chain. This whole area of unknown carcasses is now over ." Enfer is an independent company which led research into detecting illegal "angel dust" growth promoters in beef cattle in Ireland. The company confirmed last night that the test was designed to find prion protein in the spinal cord and other offals, not in beef muscle itself . BSE has never been detected in beef.
The Ministry of Agriculture in London said it had not been given details of the Irish test. A spokesman said: "We already remove all of the offals from cattle slaughtered for beef and, since we know that BSE has never been detected in the beef itself, we are satisfied that our controls protect consumers. We will study the Irish development with interest but what we need most is an effective test that detects BSE in living cattle ."
By Ben Potter Success over BSE test gives Proteus a boost
Telegraph ... Friday 21 February 1997Proteus International said yesterday its BSE testing kit had been "validated" by Ireland's Department of Agriculture for screening cattle carcasses, sparking a 42pc rise in the shares of the drugs group. Nick Woolf, an analyst an Nomura International, said Proteus's BSE test was the only one available and sales by its worldwide licensee, Enfer Scientific, in Ireland alone could yield Proteus royalties of $2m a year.
The potential market for all Europe could be "15 to 20 times bigger". The shares rose 17 to 57.5p. The test uses light to detect abnormal proteins which indicate the presence of BSE. Proteus spends far more on drug discovery - £6m last year - than it recoups from sales, but chairman David Gration said there would be "several" more announcements in the next 12 months. The group is also developing a prostate cancer treatment and vaccines that chemically castrate animals. Mr Gration, who became chairman seven months ago, said: "Proteus is beginning to do things. Investors are recognising that Proteus is a significant company."
Financial News: Times ... February 21 1997 Proteus stock jumps 42% on BSE screening success
One man's meat is another man's poison. Douglas Hogg, the Agriculture Minister, has been attacked from all sides for his handling of the BSE crisis, while Proteus International hopes to make a fortune out of diagnosing the disease in cattle.
Shares in the pharmaceutical group soared 17p, or 42 per cent, to 57 12 p after it announced that its diagnostic technology had been developed under licence by Enfer Scientific. The assay test had been approved by the Department of Agricultural Veterinary Research Laboratory in the Irish Republic and would allow beef carcasses to be screened for BSE.
Proteus developed the technology in collaboration with University College Dublin and has granted a worldwide licence to Enfer to conduct tests on carcasses for BSE. David Gration, chairman of Proteus, said the deal had the potential to generate significant revenue.
Roland Heynkes 22 Feb 1997 Commentary on new test
The report in the Electronic Telegraph, 21 February, under headline "Success over BSE test gives Proteus a boost" is not the first and not surprising. You can find a Reuters article from 13 October 1995:
LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuter) - British drug company Proteus International Plc said on Thursday it had pioneered a test for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or "mad cow disease'', that could eventually determine whether live cattle are infected. The group said in a statement its new technique had proved 100 percent accurate in confirming previous diagnoses on dead cattle brains and offered the prospect of testing live organs and blood to see whether the disease is present. There is currently no way of testing live animals to see if they have BSE and no-one knows exactly how much at risk humans are if they eat infected beef or drink milk from diseased cows.
"It's important,'' said Professor Richard Lacey at Leeds University, a leading campaigner on the dangers of BSE. "It is a breakthrough in that it could lead to control of the problem,'' he told Reuters. Lacey said he saw no reason why such a test on live organs or blood could not one day be applied to the human form of the degenerative brain disease, known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob. Lacey said for now, the main significance of such a test would be to identify the extent and nature of contamination among live cattle with a view to eliminating affected herds.But Proteus said it was too early to say whether the test might have any human application.
Since 1989 the British government has banned human consumption of cattle brains and spinal cords and insists that British beef is perfectly safe to eat. Lacey said there had been 138,000 confirmed cases of BSE since 1986 in Britain and scientists were now seeing confirmation of their hunch that BSE was being passed from one generation of cattle to another, suggesting it is transmitted by blood. The disease has an incubation period of about five years. "If we correlate the presence of infectivity in blood with subsequent development of the disease, it means we could identify infected animals early and eliminate them,'' he said. "It's a major step -- it would prevent diseased animals ever entering the food chain.'' Proteus said its dead tissue test, which highlights the mutated protein believed to cause BSE, was easier to use than current procedures.
Business development and marketing manager Jurek Sikorski said the technique offered the prospect of detecting BSE in the liver, kidney and spleen as well as blood of live animals. He said Proteus would soon start a bigger study with a view to developing a diagnostic for use on these tissues and fluids. That means that Proteus will go beyond merely corroborating diagnoses based on current tests for BSE, as it did in its preliminary trial on 169 dead cattle brains.
A future test could pinpoint BSE before the animal died and diagnose a disease in an animal which current tests might miss. "Our test has the potential to yield a more definitive diagnosis,'' Sikorski concluded. Proteus said it was in discussions with several major companies to commercialise its current test, which could be available by 1995. Sikorski said it hoped to have a test for use on live animals on sale by 1996 or 1997.