MedMira Inc., the global market leader in flow-through diagnostics for infectious diseases, announced that its MiraWell Rapid HIV Test has been designated as the number one rapid HIV antibody test, according to results of the National Clinical Evaluation for HIV Antibody Tests published by the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) in the People's Republic of China. This evaluation was conducted jointly by the national and provincial CDC laboratories on all HIV tests and has been made available to all HIV testing centres across the country.

The Chinese Department of Health's National HIV Testing Guidelines require nationwide clinical evaluation of all HIV tests, including both ELISA (traditional HIV testing) and rapid tests. Of the ten rapid HIV tests evaluated, MedMira's was the best, the only rapid HIV product with an accuracy surpassing 98 per cent. Accuracy for this study was calculated as a measure of the product's sensitivity (the ability to correctly detect a true HIV-positive sample) and specificity (the ability to correctly detect a true HIV-negative sample). In addition, MedMira's product performed as accurately as ELISA, according to the study, the company claims in the release.

"The extremely positive results of the CDC study will serve to strengthen MedMira's position in China's HIV testing market," Hermes Chan, president and COO of MedMira says adding, "Armed with these results, and with our continuous commitment to ongoing product and technical seminars, MedMira now has the opportunity to open numerous, previously unavailable market verticals in China's public health sector."

China has been reported to be battling one of the most rapidly increasing HIV infection rates in the world (rising 30 per cent since 1998). It is currently estimated that 1 million Chinese are HIV-infected and that, without intervention, China can anticipate this to increase to 10 million by 2010.