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Biomerica's Diagnostic Product Guides Exclusionary Diet Treatment to Successfully Alleviate Symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis (UC) in Prospective Clinical Stud
IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Biomerica, Inc. (Nasdaq: BMRA) is pleased to announce that its first generation food intolerance product has been shown to alleviate symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis and improve quality of life in an independent prospective study published in the Journal of Inflammatory Bowel Disease1. This study validates that Biomerica’s technology can assist in guiding the treatment regimen to alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life in patients with UC. The study used the Company’s first-generation product with UC patients and found both significant symptom (Mayo Score) and Quality of Life improvement (QoL - a validated instrument used in FDA drug studies). After intervention, the Mayo score was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group (2.41 ± 0.89 vs 3.52 ± 1.15, P < 0.05). QoL also improved after guided food exclusion (P < 0.05). UC patient samples were analyzed for the presence of antibodies specific to 14 different food antigens (egg, wheat, milk, corn, tomato, crab, rice, soybean, cod, shrimp, mushrooms, beef, chicken, and pork) using Biomerica’s enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The diet intervention was designed to last for 6 months and was managed by doctors, nurses, and nutritionists. Individual diets were guided based on the foods that tested positive in utilizing the Biomerica product. Colonoscopy examinations were performed within two weeks of study initiation and at the end of the diet intervention. The examinations were blinded to the groups. “Diet has been shown, in well-designed studies, to reduce key markers of inflammation and the risk of heart disease,” stated Zack Irani, CEO of Biomerica. “We believe that the optimum diet is person specific. For example, corn may be inflammatory to one person with a GI condition but not inflammatory to another person with the same condition. We continue to improve our echnology and have developed a second generation diagnostic guided therapy (InFoods®). The InFoods technology is exponentially more targeted than the first generation and can be used in many GI diseases with an inflammatory component such as UC, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Functional Dyspepsia. We believe that the outcome of this prospective clinical study further validates that InFoods® is a platform technology that can address multiple GI disease states.” Importantly, Biomerica is currently in clinical studies at Harvard and the University of Michigan for its second-generation InFoods® product for the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), a condition affecting 45 million2 people in the US. Similar to UC, it has been identified that symptoms of IBS can be alleviated by excluding certain patient-specific foods (e.g. pork, milk, onions, sugar, chickpeas, etc.) from the diet. InFoods® is a diagnostic guided therapy (DGT) that is being developed to be performed in physicians’ offices and if desired can be combined with pharmacotherapy. This makes it a seamless solution for patients while providing physicians with an incremental revenue stream for their practices. In a recent survey3, the average primary care physician estimated they would use InFoods® therapy on over 90% of their IBS patients. 1Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation – Inflamm Bowel Dis • Volume 24, Number 9, September 2018 About Biomerica (NASDAQ: BMRA) Corporate Zack Irani | CEO |