Celiac Disease Is a Silent Killer-Phadia to Launch Two New, Technologically-Advanced Diagnostic Tests

UPPSALA, SWEDEN, Oct 08 (MARKET WIRE) --
Phadia Inc., worldwide leaders in the development, manufacturing and
marketing of complete blood test systems for the clinical diagnosis and
monitoring of allergy, asthma and autoimmune diseases, today announced
the launch of a two new, highly -reliable assays to support the accurate
diagnosis of celiac disease.

A watershed Mayo Clinic study published in last month's issue of
Gastroenterology reports that celiac disease is four times more common
today than it was 50 years ago. Another key finding: Individuals who
don't realize they suffer from celiac disease (and therefore never
received treatment for it) were four times more likely to have died
during the study's 45 years of monitoring versus individuals not affected
by celiac disease.

The study shines a bright light on the increasing prevalence of celiac
disease, as well as its significant impact on mortality, and suggests
that celiac disease could be a major public health issue.

Dr Stefan Eschbach, General Manager of Autoimmunity at Phadia, has said
that these innovative, highly-accurate tests were developed in response
to widespread demand from the healthcare community, "Physicians have been
asking us for state of the art assays with a high value of sensitivity
and specificity. Our launch this month of EliA(TM) Gliadin(DP) IgA and
EliA(TM) Gliadin(DP) IgG will offer physicians who suspect a possible
case of celiac disease, antibody tests with the lowest number of false
positive results. This means avoiding putting patients through
unnecessary biopsies."

Diagnosis of celiac disease has never been easier and these blood tests
can even be used to test people who may be at risk for having celiac
disease, but have no symptoms.

Approximately 1 out of every 250 people may have celiac disease, however
only 1 out of 10 people with the disease may be actually be diagnosed.
There may be as many 3-5 million worldwide with celiac disease - most of
whom do not even know it.

Celiac disease is a life-long condition in which ingestion of "gluten",
the water insoluble wheat-gliadin and the prolamins in rye and barley,
leads to chronic inflammation and damage of the mucosa (or lining) of the
small intestine.

The disease is multifaceted in nature, and patients present to physicians
with a varied array of symptoms and forms of the disease. Due to this
clinically difficult differential diagnosis, only a relatively small
proportion of patients are diagnosed in their childhood.

A specific fraction of gluten polypeptides, the "gliadins", are solely
responsible for the toxic effects to the intestinal mucosa. Since the
levels of both gliadin and tissue transglutaminase IgA antibodies
correlate well with the morphological appearance of the small-intestinal
mucosa, Phadia's non-invasive serological diagnosis of celiac disease is
expected to increasingly replace the biopsy procedure, especially in
children.

IgG antibodies to gliadin are less specific for celiac disease but are
helpful markers in patients with IgA deficiency. Both types of gliadin
antibodies are of particular importance for a diagnosis of celiac disease
in children below the age of two. With EliA(TM) Gliadin(DP) IgA and
EliA(TM) Gliadin(DP) IgG, Phadia is able to offer healthcare
professionals two reliable, state of the art assays to support the
accurate diagnosis of celiac disease, even among the very young.

Says Dr Stefan Eschbach, General Manager of Autoimmunity at Phadia, "This
month's launch of EliA(TM) Gliadin(DP) IgA and EliA(TM) Gliadin(DP) IgG,
coupled with our on-going efforts at the forefront of clinical diagnosis
of celiac disease, demonstrate Phadia's unwavering commitment to this
disease area, to improving quality of life for celiac disease patients
and their families, and to always striving to meet the needs of the
healthcare community who place their trust in us".

About Phadia

Phadia develops, manufactures and markets complete blood test systems to
support the clinical diagnosis and monitoring of allergy, asthma and
autoimmune diseases. Besides strategic management, administration and
business development, the international centre in Uppsala incorporates
extensive research and development facilities, a state-of-the-art
production plant and distribution system operating cost-effectively
around the clock. In Freiburg, Germany, a second centre develops and
supports diagnostic tests for autoimmune diseases. Some 98% of production
is exported to more than 3,000 laboratories in 60 countries. Supplying
seven out of ten allergy laboratory tests worldwide, the company has
remained the world leader in its field for more than 25 years.

Forward-looking statements

Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations,
and assumptions contained in this news release are forward-looking
statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Although
Phadia attempts to be accurate in making these forward-looking
statements, it is possible that future circumstances might differ from
the assumptions on which such statements are based.

Contacts:
Media Contacts:
Phadia Inc.
Dr Stefan Eschbach
General Manager, Autoimmunity
+49 (7614) 7805 318
Location, Munzinger Strasse 7 DE-79111 Freiburg Germany

Phadia AB
P.O. Box 6460, SE-751 37 Uppsala
Sweden
+46 18 16 50 00
+46 18 14 03 58 (FAX)
marketing@phadia.com

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