DUNDEE-BASED medical diagnostics company Axis-Shield has won approval to sell its test for early signs of rheumatoid arthritis in the USA.

Approval from the Food and Drug Administration is likely to lead to regulators in other countries following suit, boosting the company’s sales.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic auto-immune disease characterised by inflammation of the lining of the joints, causing pain and disability. It affects approximately one in every 100 people.

The company has developed the testing kit to identify certain antibodies that have been shown to appear in the blood long before the onset of rheumatoid arthritis symptoms.

Axis-Shield has arranged for its product to be marketed in the US through its tie-up with healthcare giant Abbot Laboratories, which makes the analyser on which the test will be used.

Chief executive Ian Gilham said, “We are pleased to have received FDA clearance for this proprietary assay for rheumatoid arthritis on a major laboratory system…

“Rheumatoid arthritis is a potentially debilitating disease and early disease diagnosis facilitates improved treatment options and offers substantial patient benefits.”