Subject: Genetic Systems Says AIDS Test Is Cleared For Sale in Australia
Date: Published: 5/17/85 35 lines
Source:  Wall Street Journal.  Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. 

   Genetic Systems Says
   AIDS Test Is Cleared
   For Sale in Australia

   SEATTLE -- Genetic Systems Corp. said the Public Health
Department of Australia approved, for marketing there, its
blood test to screen for antibodies to the AIDS virus.
   The company, which makes immunological products for use in
the diagnosis and treatment of disease, said tests on 6,000
patient samples failed to produce any false negative or false
positive results, a problem bedeviling some other tests.  AIDS
stands for acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
   Genetic Systems also said it completed U. S. clinical
trials on the AIDS antibody test and plans to apply this week
with the Food and Drug Administration to make and market the
product here.  The company said it won't disclose the results
of its U. S. trials until the FDA completes its review of the
application.
   The AIDS test doesn't prove conclusively that a patient
has AIDS, only that the patient has been or hasn't been
exposed to the AIDS virus.  The test measures the presence of
antibodies to the AIDS virus in blood samples.
   Genetic Systems said the test will be used in blood
centers to screen blood before it's used in transfusions or
in blood products.

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