January 23, 2009
Good ideas hailed
Published: 23/01/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Business
INNOVATION: The Thai winners of the Asian Idea to Product (I2P) competition held last month in Bangkok will be heading to the United States for the global round of the competition.
The competition brings MBA students and lab researchers together to develop business plans for technical innovation. The Thai team will present its leptospirosis testing kit business plan at the University of Texas on Oct 30-31.
Leptospirosis, also known as Weil's disease, is normally transmitted from mice to humans, usually from contaminated water. According to the World Health Organisation, there are 10 or more infections per 100,000 people per year in the humid tropics.
"One reason people aren't testing for leptospirosis is because it takes too long, though it causes the deaths of hundreds of Thais per year," said Tanaphat Laohansit, a member of the team. "the new test kit will help shorten the time and process."
One distributor has already contacted the team expressing interest in the product. Currently in the clinical trial phase, the product could reach the market by the third quarter of this year if all goes well.
(Only in print edition)
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