News & Events
BD Biosciences Supports World AIDS Day
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Contact: Colleen T. White Corporate Communications (201) 847-5369 Email: colleen_white@bd.com Janet Horta BD Biosciences Marketing (408) 954-2489 Email: janet_horta@bd.com San Jose, CA (December 20, 2004) -- In recognition of World AIDS Day this past December 1, BD Biosciences is providing a free reagent kit to each of its BD FACSCount™ System customers. The BD FACSCount System is one of many BD Biosciences instrument and reagent systems used to monitor disease progression in HIV-infected individuals worldwide. The majority of BD FACSCount System customers are in Africa, where AIDS is devastating entire communities. BD wants to make a contribution that will make a difference to the people living with HIV/AIDS. In Africa, a donation of a reagent kit will allow people to be evaluated who otherwise could not be.
In total, BD Biosciences is providing approximately 30,000 tests across the globe including countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia Pacific. A letter sent last week notified customers of the reagent gift.
"Since 1994, the BD FACSCount System has been used to monitor CD4 T-cell counts in resource-poor countries," said Jeanne Brosnan, BD Biosciences' Vice President of Global HIV/AIDS Initiatives. "We are very happy to see that the global response to this crisis is improving and has resulted in many more patients having access to antiretroviral drugs and diagnostic monitoring tests."
The BD FACSCount instrument monitors disease progression by measuring the absolute count of blood cells infected by HIV, the CD4 T cells. As the disease progresses, the CD4 T-cell count declines. The change in the absolute CD4 count is a critical factor for deciding when to initiate antiretroviral therapy for HIV-infected patients, and plays a key role in successful treatment of HIV/AIDS. The need for immune status monitoring increases as the number of people receiving treatment grows, making BD Biosciences' work significant in the battle against HIV/AIDS.
About BD BD is a medical technology company that serves healthcare institutions, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, industry, and the general public. BD manufactures and sells a broad range of medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment, and diagnostic products. For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2004, BD reported revenues of $4.935 billion.
About BD Biosciences A business segment of BD, BD Biosciences (www.bdbiosciences.com) is one of the world's largest businesses supporting the life sciences and is organized into four units: Clontech, Discovery Labware, Immunocytometry Systems, and Pharmingen. BD Biosciences provides high-quality products and services to accelerate discovery and diagnosis in the life sciences.
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