WADA hopes to have growth hormone tests ready for Beijing

By Mark Ledsom

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) - Human growth hormone test kits could be available for August's Beijing Olympics, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) director general David Howman said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at a briefing in Lausanne, Howman said validation tests had already begun on kits being produced by a German company.

"The kits are under scientific scrutiny to check there is no loophole legally or scientifically," Howman said.

"Will it be ready for Beijing? That depends on the validation process but we hope so.

"The test itself is good so it is just the kits that now have to be validated," Howman added.

The current WADA test for human growth hormone (HGH) was introduced and validated by the organisation in 2004.

Production of the test kits was halted two years later, however, when the company producing the necessary antibodies was taken over by another firm which decided to halt manufacture.

Howman said the agency expected no logistical problems in producing sufficient test kits in time for the Games once validation was completed.