he HORIBA Group of worldwide companies provides an extensive array of instruments and systems for applications ranging from automotive R&D, process and environmental monitoring, in-vitro medical diagnostics, semiconductor manufacturing and metrology, to a broad range of scientific R&D and QC measurements. Proven quality and trustworthy performance have established widespread confidence in the HORIBA Brand.

http://www.horiba.com/medical/

Company founding

 The MEDIWISS Analytic GmbH was founded in August 1999 in Moers, Germany. It started as a small company, but today it is known worldwide and plays an important role in the allergy screening diagnostic.

We develop, manufacture and sell our own product and are specialized in the allergologic in-vitro diagnostics, using our own extracts, developments and technologies.

Company meaning

Our objective is to offer our clients a complete system with test panels, hardware and software required for the system extension as well as the necessary laboratory equipment.

The test development and production is set in order to always make the routine work in the laboratory easier and to simplify the operator’s task, but at the same time to offer a test which has a high sensitivity and specificity.

Our aim is to achieve the highest quality by the development and manufacture of our product. By taking client’s requirements into consideration and by offering an optimal support to our test systems, we attain the greatest satisfaction. Our quest for quality is demonstrated by our quality control system, ISO 9001 and ISO 13485, our certificate for in-vitro test systems in allergology from April 2008.

The Mediwiss concept

For us it is very important that our team members have a biology diploma and training sections with medical-question are regularly performed, in order to be in touch with the allergy thematic.

We supply clients all over the world and our objective is to support our distributor in every country.

Nowadays, the challenge is to stand out in the wide social and scientific environment, constantly changing and reflecting developed technologies. Our company uses this as a chance for enhancements. 

ALK is a research-driven global pharmaceutical company focusing on allergy treatment, prevention and diagnosis. Our mission is to improve the quality of life of persons with allergy by developing pharmaceutical products that target the actual cause of allergy.

ALK is the world leader in allergy vaccination (immunotherapy) – a unique treatment that induces a protective immune response which reduces and potentially halts the allergic reaction. Allergy vaccination is traditionally administered as subcutaneous injections or sublingual droplets.  

Our aim is to extend the use of allergy vaccination by introducing convenient, tablet-based vaccines, thereby offering many more patients a causal allergy treatment. Following this strategy, the world’s first tablet-based vaccine against grass pollen allergy, GRAZAX®, was launched in Europe in 2007 and ALK has entered a strategic partnership with Merck regarding the tablet programme in North America. In 2009, GRAZAX® was approved as a disease-modifying allergy treatment and GRAZAX® is now the only registered tablet treatment against grass pollen allergy with documented sustained effect after completion of treatment.  

ALK has approximately 1,700 employees with subsidiaries, production facilities and distributors worldwide. The company is headquartered in Hørsholm, Denmark, and listed on the NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen A/S. Further information is available at http://www.alk-abello.com/ and http://www.grazax.com/.

Medical Measurement Systems (MMS) is one of the world's leading companies in the development and distribution of medical diagnostic systems for urodynamics, gastroenterology and neurology.

In the urodynamic field, MMS is marketing a complete line of diagnostic equipment, from easy to use wireless uroflowmeters to advanced multi-channel video-urodynamic systems. The equipment is used to diagnose bladder dysfunctions, micturation disorders, urinary and fecal incontinence as well as prostate problems.

In the gastroenterology field, MMS offers a complete line of ambulatory Impedance-pH recorders and stationary motility equipment, including High Resolution Impedance Manometry solutions. Dedicated MMS software provides fully automated analysis of esophageal pH, Impedance (GERD) and pressures recorded during 24-hours studies. MMS' GI equipment is used to measure and diagnose non-cardiac chest pain, swallow disorders, reflux, EGG and motor abnormalities for the oesophagus, stomach, small bowel, colon and anorectal canal.

MMS products have been on the market since 1988 and since then the company has grown fast. The company philosophy is that engineers and sales & marketing people have daily contact with practicing physicians and nurses all over the world. This enables MMS to develop, modify and customize diagnostic systems that exactly meet the needs of today's healthcare professionals and gives our company an outstanding reputation.

The corporate office of MMS is located in Enschede, a major industrial city in The Netherlands. From here all products are designed and tested to comply with European and American medical safety regulations, as well as international quality standards. MMS has her own branch offices in the USA and Germany. Global distribution takes place through a world-wide network of highly qualified distributors, who are selling and servicing MMS-systems to university, public and private hospitals in more than 60 countries

http://www.mmsinternational.com

INTRODUCTION

Since the discovery of Helicobacter pylori (Hp) by Marshall and Warren in 1983 (1), overwhelming evidence has accumulated to confirm that Hp infection plays a significant role in the development of chronic active gastritis, peptic ulcer, and gastric adenocarcinoma (2-6). Hp infection is very common throughout the world, occurring in 40-50% of the population in developed countries and 80-90% of the population in developing regions (7), and about 54.4% of the people in Taiwan (8).

A large number of methods, most of which require gastric biopsies, have been used to diagnose Hp infection, but there is no single gold standard test for the diagnosis of Hp infection (9-11). Every method for detection of Hp has its own inherent advantages and disadvantages. Although biopsy based tests may suffer from sampling error (12) due to the patchy nature of the infection, rapid urease test (RUT), with its high sensitivity and specificity, is considered to be a quick and reliable test for the initial diagnosis of Hp infection. Also, RUT is simple and inexpensive (13-16). When a biopsy is incubated in a medium containing urea and a pH-sensitive color marker, urease hydrolyses urea to carbon dioxide

Hepato-Gastroenterology 2002; 49:1191-1194 and ammonia, causing a rise in pH value and a change in the color of the medium.

In the past, the reaction time of most RUTs required 30 minutes on average, may have needed more than 4 hours in some cases (17,18). Patients must know the RUT results before their next visit to the OPD. If the reaction time can be reduced to less than 10 minutes, it allows a diagnosis to be made before the patient leaves the endoscopy suite. This may save on medical expenses due to repeated visits to the clinic and reduce paper work. It may also increase the success rate of eradicating Hp, because compliance is considered a major factor in the successful treatment of Hp, compliance may improve significantly if we make an early diagnosis of Hp infection and initiate therapy (19).

The present prospective study was undertaken to evaluate the validity of RUTs containing different media. This evaluation included accuracy, reaction time and cost-effectiveness. We also wanted to evaluate the positive reaction of different RUTs in relation to various colonies of Hp, and the accuracy of different RUTs in patients who had received prior Hp eradication therapy.

Kibion AB is a growing dynamic company and world-leading supplier of breath tests to diagnose the stomach ulcer bacterium Helicobacter pylori (Hp).

The company was founded in 2005 as a subsidiary to the Swedish pharmaceutical company Orexo AB, enabling a focus on new inventions for the diagnosis of the Helicobacter pylori bacterium.

Kibion operations are based in the University City of Uppsala in Sweden.

Kibion, whose name originates from the Old Nordic “Kibi” meaning smart and alert, is aiming at always offering the most innovative solutions and are at current supplying its superior high quality products to selected distributors in more than 50 countries around the world. The company is also continuously evaluating new business opportunities within its field of operations.

http://www.kibion.com/DynPage.aspx?id=68175