HEALTH
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Berkeley Firm Signs AIDS Test Deal: Calypte Biomedical, developer of a urine test used to detect the virus that causes AIDS, has signed a distribution deal with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. that gives the Japanese firm exclusive rights to market the test throughout Asia. Calypte, a research and development firm, valued the deal with Japan’s fourth-largest drug company at more than $50 million. The disease is spreading rapidly in Asia, and the World Health Organization estimates that the number of HIV-positive individuals in Asia could quadruple to 10 million by 2000.
