Mayo Alumni Magazine 2002 Spring - MC4409-0402 - Mayo Clinic

Testing in the Rochester field
By October, as anthrax outbreaks
began to dominate the news, Roche
Applied Science sent its commercially
prepared reagents back to Mayo
for testing.
“We didn’t want to announce the
test until sufficient quantities of
testing kits became available — the
work called us out of hiding,” says
Dr. Cockerill. The police brought
Dr. Cockerill’s team several
suspicious packages to examine for
anthrax contamination. When
indentification came quickly, the
research was revealed.
The substances were harmless
powders. Their quick identification
allowed Mayo Clinic to remain open
and available to patients without
public health risk.
Cooperating with the federal
government
The team has worked with
dignitaries from the United States
Department of Defense as well as
Tommy Thompson, Secretary of
the United States Department of
Health and Human Services.
The cooperative effort has made the
rapid anthrax test formula available
to federal and state agencies
nationwide. Roche Applied Science is
working with the United States Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) to
determine requirements for expedited
regulatory approval.
“On Dec. 21, 2001, the FDA
approved the rapid anthrax test as
an investigational test for testing
human samples,” says Dr. Cockerill.
“Validating the test for human
specimens is difficult because there
are restrictions on the limited number
of human specimens that now exist
and are needed to conduct proper
clinical testing. However, in
cooperation with the federal
government, we’re in the process of
testing human samples.”
The rapid success of the project
was facilitated by collaboration and
cooperation. In addition to the
contributions by Mayo scientists and
researchers from other institutions,
Mayo Medical Ventures assisted with
the process of developing
relationships with companies in
other countries.
The development of the same-day
diagnostic anthrax test in a period of
weeks, which under normal
circumstances would have taken
months or years, illustrates how
rapidly and effectively Mayo can
react in response to a societal need.
— Yvonne Hubmayr
“Making this test
available in a very
short time frame is
our contribution to
the fight against
bioterrorism and
is a direct outcome
of the excellent
cooperation
between Roche
Applied Science
and Mayo Clinic.”
— Martin Madaus
president and CEO,
Roche Diagnostics Corporation
Spring 2002 Mayo Alumni 7