AXIM Biotechnologies, an international healthcare diagnostic solutions development company, announced the start of manufacturing of both its proprietary Ocular Immunoglobulin E (IgE) and Lactoferrin diagnostic assays to fulfill the orders placed by its commercialization partner.
AXIM has begun manufacturing three separate lots of each assay that will be used for an internal reproducibility study with the third lot available to ship to customers. AXIM’s current manufacturing capacity is up to 25,000 units per month.
Both tests were designed to be administered at the point-of-care, and measure respective biomarker levels in patients, rendering results in eight minutes, the company says. AXIM’s tests are quantitative and measure actual levels of both IgE and Lactoferrin allowing doctors to monitor targeted therapeutics.
Understanding Lactoferrin and IgE
Lactoferrin is a protein that exhibits a unique combination of antimicrobial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties. It is one of the eye’s important immunological defense mechanisms and also is a biomarker used to assess the secretory function of the lacrimal gland.
Measuring Lactoferrin levels in patients enables clinicians to directly correlate low levels to dry eye disease caused by aqueous deficiency and the severity of DED can be determined by the Lactoferrin level. Low Lactoferrin levels indicate DED and depressed ocular immunity, which may represent an increased surgical risk and of contact lens intolerance.
IgE is a key biomarker primarily associated with non-specific, allergic conjunctivitis, which often mimics Dry Eye Disease (DED), enabling clinicians to differentiate between the underlying causes of a patient’s eye condition and prescribe treatment accordingly and instantly at the point-of-care.
“Our research team has been working tirelessly and we’re ready to scale our production to meet the large demand for our tests – and this was a key milestone toward that goal,” says John Huemoeller II, CEO of AXIM Biotechnologies. “While many development companies merely design new technologies and outsource their production, AXIM was able to adjust our existing facilities to enable production of our own assays – a significant advantage in both quality control and profit margins. This has been a long time coming and we couldn’t be more excited to reach such an important milestone as an organization.”
AXIM has been working closely with its commercialization partner to further prepare them with all of the materials and information necessary to garner clinician interest in the tests in recent months, while simultaneously optimizing production.
Approximately 344 million people worldwide have Dry Eye Disease, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and the patient population continues to grow. Given the current landscape of diagnostic tools, clinicians struggle to properly diagnose and treat DED. Additionally, according to the American Journal of Ophthalmology, as of July 2017, a study reported an estimated six million people have experienced Dry Eye Disease symptoms but have never been diagnosed.
AXIM aims to address this discrepancy with its ocular diagnostic solution portfolio, beginning with both its IgE and Lactoferrin assays.
