Kronus Introduces Diagnostic Test for Rare Myasthenia Gravis Disease : MEDICAL

The symptoms--fatigue and depression--are common enough. But for an estimated 1% of the population, the cause is anything but routine.

Myasthenia gravis, a rare disease of the immune system, gradually paralyzes its victims’ muscles if left untreated. But early detection may now be possible as a result of a diagnostic test kit introduced by Kronus, a Capistrano Beach firm.

The test kit, which the company said is the first to be marketed for research purposes, is designed to detect the presence in the bloodstream of antibodies that impede muscle control.

Richard McGaw, president and director of marketing for Kronus, said the company has received a marketing license from the Salk Institute in La Jolla, which developed the test in its laboratories and holds the patent. He said Kronus has streamlined the test for commercial use.

McGaw said Kronus has begun selling the test, called Acetyl Choline Receptor Antibody, to clinics that are gathering data for evaluation by the Food and Drug Administration. McGaw said he expects the FDA to confirm the usefulness of the test later this year and allow it to be sold on the open market throughout the United States. With FDA approval, he said, the new test is expected to generate $1 million in annual sales at a high profit margin.

Community Psychiatric Centers, a major operator of acute psychiatric hospitals, home nursing and dialysis services, is moving its corporate headquarters from Santa Ana to Laguna Hills. Next month, 40 employees are scheduled to move into a three-story building now under construction at 24552 Pacific Park Drive, which will be the company’s international corporate center.