OREANDA-NEWS. Akers Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKER) (AIM: AKR.L), ("Akers Bio" or the "Company"), a developer and supplier of screening and testing technologies designed to deliver rapid health information to consumers and healthcare providers, announces an update on the progress of its 19.9%-owned Chinese joint venture company, Hainan Savy Akers Biosciences, Ltd ("Savy Akers" or the "Joint Venture"). Savy Akers was established in October, 2014 to commercialize a number of Akers Bio's rapid diagnostic screening and testing products in China (excluding PIFA Heparin/PF4 Rapid Assay products for which Chinese distribution is handled by NovoTek).

The Company is pleased to announce that Savy Akers' 10,000 square foot production facility in Haikou National Hi-Tech Industrial Zone, Hainan province, is now fully operational. This facility is an addition to Savy Akers' 2,500 square foot headquarters and research and development facility in the same industrial zone. The production facility is fully staffed and regulatory approval for the manufacturing of products is expected imminently. 

The Joint Venture has begun multi-channel marketing - including through major Chinese social media and e-commerce platforms - of several of Akers Bio's products, with a special emphasis on rapid breath tests in the prolific areas of diabetes, weight loss and fitness. The brands now being marketed in China include BreathScan® DKA (a medical test for diabetic ketoacidosis), the METRON® Breath Ketone Test (a test for an optimal metabolic state for weight loss) and Ke Tong (a fitness test).

Overall rates of obesity are estimated by the World Health Organization to be as high as 20% in some Chinese cities, resulting in the world's largest diabetes epidemic. There are now estimated to be approximately 20 million individuals in China suffering from Type 1 diabetes. Savy Akers has completed clinical trials, in accordance with the China Food and Drug Administration ("CFDA"), for the Company's single-use, non-invasive, breath device, BreathScan® DKA, to rapidly screen for diabetic ketoacidosis. Akers Bio's test provides real-time diagnostic information that allows diabetics and/or their caregivers/healthcare providers to determine if they have a severe level of ketone (acid) build up in their body. Such ketone build up can cause a life-threatening medical emergency called ketoacidosis. The clinical trials in China of BreathScan® DKA demonstrated 100 per cent correlation with blood-based reference laboratory testing procedures and the Joint Venture expects the test to be approved in the very near future.

The METRON® Breath Ketone Test, the only disposable breath-based diagnostic device that rapidly determines if the subject is in an optimal state for weight loss, known as Ketosis, is being marketed on China's WeChat e-commerce platform. The METRON® Breath Ketone Test is seeking to address the growing awareness amongst Chinese consumers of the need to combat obesity, which is now a major health concern.