Martin J. Lee, PhD

Biography

Martin J. Lee, PhD

Martin Lee is a principal and has served as the president and chief executive officer of Savyon Diagnostics Ltd. since January 1, 2003. He was previously a founder, CEO, and Laboratory Director of the Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory in Asheville, NC.

Dr. Lee received his Ph.D. is in biochemistry and microbiology in 1969 from Rutgers University with postdoctoral training at the University of Wisconsin. His career has included senior clinical positions at Pharmacia Fine Chemicals, Technicon and Coulter Electronics. In 1998 Dr. Lee sold his interests in Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory and moved to Israel, where he studied religion for several years prior to his purchase of ownership interest in Savyon Diagnostics.

Comparative Sensitivity of Conventional versus Flocked Swabs for a New Rapid Vaginal Yeast test

Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is thought to be one of the most common causes of vaginal infections. Savyon Diagnostics has developed a diagnostic kit for rapid detection of vaginal Candida infections. The test is intended to be used as a laboratory, point of care and over-thecounter test, meaning that vaginal secretion samples may be obtained through either patient or physician sampling. The kit is composed of a sampling swab and a unique detection device, which houses a test strip, functioning as a lateral flow immuno-chromatographic-based test. The novel device provides clear, reliable and unchangeable results within 10 minutes by a one-step procedure. It detects Candida albicans, which is the most abundant species, but also others like C. glabrata, the secondary in abundance, as well as C. Tropicalis. The test is specific for Candida as shown by testing an array of bacteria typical to BV, which is the most common cause of vaginal infections. The test detects both forms of Candida budding and hyphae.

In order to improve sensitivity, the flocked swab (endocervical swab) from Copan was evaluated in comparison to the regular swab. The analytical performance showed an improvement of at least one order of magnitude in the limit of detection when the flocked swab is used, namely increased sensitivity. Indeed, preliminary clinical evaluation proved that the sensitivity of the test is elevated by using the flocked swab. The regular swab showed 80% sensitivity while the flocked swab showed 180% referred to culture results. The over sensitivity is referred to the ability to detect free antigens in addition to whole cells. This ability is expected due to the amount of secretion drawn from the patient, which is twice as much as the amount when regular swab is used.

This novel kit has been developed to fill the widely desired need for a rapid and reliable diagnosis of vaginal yeast infections. The kit is expected to avoid misuse of antifungal drugs, and to save health-care costs.