Test for Blood-Doping Agent Developed
By Tom LaMarra
Updated: Sunday, November 29, 2009 12:30 PM
Posted: Sunday, November 29, 2009 10:57 AM
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...ped?source=rss
Anti-Doping Research Inc., which oversees the non-profit Equine Drug Research Institute in California, has developed a test for CERA, a blood-doping agent.
Like the test developed for human competitors, the test for horses successfully detects CERA in plasma after the drug has been administered intravenously, ADR officials said in a release. ADR was founded by chief executive Dr. Don Catlin, founder of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory.
Catlin, at the 2005 Jockey Club Round Table conference, announced he was doing work for the equine industry in the area of developing tests for drugs. The equine industry kicked in with an effort to initially raise about $3 million.
“We are proud of this development,” Catlin said in a statement. “If implemented, this new test can close a major testing loophole and help eliminate the use of one of today’s most powerful doping products in equine sports.”