Newswise — Chicago, USA - July 30, 2014 | Atomo Diagnostics is introducing the world’s first integrated rapid blood test device to the USA market at the 2014 AACC Annual Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo (July 27-31) following a successful presentation at the 20th International AIDS Conference 2014 in Melbourne (July 20 -25, 2014).

The AtomoRapid™ all-in-one blood test can accommodate test strips for a wide variety of conditions from celiac disease and allergy through to infectious diseases such as malaria and HIV.

The device delivers better clinical outcomes for patients and health care providers by enabling simpler, safer and more accurate testing in the field or at home. At AIDS 2014, Atomo Diagnostics participated in the ‘Realising Potential for HIV Self-testing’ conference session organized by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The session focused on opportunities and challenges facing self-testing and to debate thinking on real world situations.

AtomoRapid™ all-in-one blood test, which is half the size of an iPhone, has been deployed in South Africa for HIV and malaria testing, and clinical activities are in process in the EU and in planning in Asia and USA.

Former ResMed executive and Atomo Diagnostics’ founder and CEO John Kelly said: “We have started with HIV and malaria because that was where false negatives and false positives from other existing ‘bits in a box’ products, which were sometimes greater than 10 per cent when used in the field, were having the most significant impact on individuals.

AtomoRapid™ HIV is well positioned to play a significant role in supporting the Australian Government’s initiative to lift restrictions on home HIV testing.

Around 30% of Australian’s with HIV are diagnosed well after they should have started treatment to restore their damaged immune system, according to the latest Annual HIV Surveillance report from the UNSW’s Kirby Institute Annual Symposium.

“We have seen from our work with the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation in South Africa that if you want to be accepted as an at-home test you need an integrated intuitive solution that reduces test errors,” said Kelly.

"Over 100 million rapid HIV tests are bought each year globally, and Atomo Diagnostics is leading the transition to more user friendly all-in-one solution with its AtomoRapid™ innovation," says Kelly.

BACKGROUND | additional data, quotes and information

AtomoRapid™ took the top international medical technology award last month in New York at the Medical Design Excellence Awards.

“We can now officially say we are best in the world,” said the Australian AtomoRapid™ team after the awards.

“To ensure superior performance, the AtomoRapid™ HIV product uses a proven HIV test strip that has been World Health Organisation (WHO) evaluated and proven,” said Kelly.

Kelly was inspired to find a better way to test blood when his daughter developed a childhood disease requiring regular blood draws for diagnostic tests.

Given its ease of use and simplicity, AtomoRapid™ has the ability to materially improve both the uptake and reliability of testing in the community and at home. The company is currently implementing its plans to launch the product in Australia, the US and Europe for both professional and at home use.

“Existing tests fail to offer the AtomoRapid™ all in one solution which can leave them open to errors which in turn creates misdiagnosis. This can have a significant impact not only on the individual, but the community too,” said John Kelly.

About Atomo Diagnostics www.atomodiagnostics.com Atomo Diagnostics is an award-winning Australian based healthcare company that develops and commercialises next generation solutions addressing unmet user needs in the diagnostic industry.

AtomoRapid™ Malaria, the second test to market, will be available in the 3rd Quarter of 2014. The company is also commercialising additional tests that will be launched over the next 18 months.

Product images: http://atomodiagnostics.com/latest-news/gallery/

Product in use video: http://atomodiagnostics.com/latest-news/video/

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