Indian orders for Panbio JE diagnostic

Medical diagnostics company Panbio's (ASX:PBO) new assay for Japanese encephalitis (JE), released for sale just two days ago, has received immediate interest and has been shipped to India where a JE outbreak has resulted in 1145 reported cases, including 296 deaths.

Panbio's diagnostic kit is an IgM combo assay that tests for both JE and dengue.

"The fact that it was available, and because of the outbreak of JE, meant that some laboratories were very interested in getting a hold of it and seeing how it works," said Panbio COO Dr Stuart Hazell.

While the volume of tests being shipped out is "relatively small", Hazell expects that as soon as evaluations come back, volumes will go up. "The fact that there's been a rapid response indicates that there's a demand there," he said.

Hazell added that an Indian JE test already exists, but Panbio's diagnostic outperforms it on head-to-head comparisons. As well as being used to assist clinical diagnosis, Panbio's new assay can support surveillance activities in order to better understand the extent of disease, he said.