October 9, 2023 – Here’s what we know about Ridley Labs based on what has been reported.
In December 2022, Jesalyn Harper, the city’s only full-time code enforcement officer, responded to complaints about vehicles parked at an abandoned warehouse loading dock in Reedley.
Upon arrival, Harper noticed a foul odor and saw a hose sticking out of the wall. She knocked on the door and a woman in a lab coat answered. Two other people wearing plastic gloves and blue surgical masks were packing pregnancy tests.
Harper said they spoke “broken English” and told her they were from China.
Once inside, Harper saw multiple refrigerators and ultra-low temperature freezers hooked up to illegal electrical wiring, vials of blood and urine on shelves and in plastic containers, and hundreds of white lab rats held in crowded, filthy containers. middle.
The woman who works in the warehouse said the owner lives in China. They gave Harper a phone number and email address and asked her to leave.
Harper then contacted Fresno County health officials and the FBI.
Prior to the reduction, Ridley Code Enforcement attempted to establish clear communication with representatives of the business. Jesalyn Harper contacted the “owner” Xiuqin Yao via email, as Yao indicated she lived in China. Xiuquin Yao is said to be the president of a company called Prestige BioTech.
After speaking with several different representatives of the company, it was impossible to determine who was running the lab. Officials continue to press ahead with the cuts.
In March 2023, officials inspected the laboratory and found “potential infectious agents,” including bacteria and viruses: chlamydia, E. coli, hepatitis B and C, herpes types 1 and 5, rubella, malaria, coronavirus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and HIV.
More than a hundred rats died, and hundreds were later euthanized.
Nina Hahn, a veterinarian at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, examined the mice. Hahn said the mice were not injected with any infectious agents and no experiments were performed. She said the mice were used to grow COVID-19 antibody cells to make detection kits. It makes no sense that rats are regulated and protected by the USDA, but rats are not regulated and protected by the USDA.
Reedley City Manager Nicole Zieba said that initially, state and federal officials advised the city not to share information about the lab publicly.
Privately funded R&D laboratories are not required to register with the government. Currently, there is no federal regulatory agency that oversees private medical laboratories.
As the Associated Press noted at the end of its August 9 article, “It’s frustrating that we focus on these myths, bioengineered weapons and the like, rather than the real problem, which is the lack of Regulation,” said Jessalyn Harper.
Senior counsel for the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee recently contacted Zieba seeking comment on related legal changes.
On September 13, we attended a press conference at the Fresno Hall of Records.
“Today’s press conference is intended to share an important update related to the current lack of regulation of unlicensed laboratories in the United States and welcomes the news from Congress that highlights the need and call for congressional hearings on this critical issue,” Fresno County Executive Paul Nerland said.
“Last week, legal representatives from the House Select Committee on Chinese Communist Party arrived in Reedley to issue a subpoena to the City of Reedley involving an unlicensed laboratory (…) and today we want to emphasize that this action by the committee is a good one Initiatives. Things.”
“Currently, there is no oversight of such laboratories at the local, state or national level (…) Now, while we are pleased that Congress is taking action, Fresno County continues to take action with the proposed action that we will submit to the Board of Supervisors. An ordinance that will allow our public health teams to conduct annual inspections of these privately funded laboratories,” Neyland said.
Reedley City Manager Nicole Zieba continued, “We are pleased that Congress took this seriously and by issuing the subpoena, they were able to obtain documents in the city’s possession that otherwise would not have been disclosed during the investigation.” Zieba said she The documents she delivered to Congress cannot be shared publicly.
On Oct. 16, it was reported that Universal Meditech Inc. (UMI), the company behind the lab, was threatening to sue the city of Reedley and Fresno County for millions of dollars in damages.
Universal Meditech Inc. is seeking $30 million from Reedley and $50 million from Fresno County, for a total of $80 million.
UMI said in the filing that “the improper seizure and unauthorized law enforcement activities, as well as the resulting publication of many false and distorted reports in local public media, prevented the relocation of the new factory from proceeding.”
The latest update was released on October 19th. The lab’s owner was arrested for making false statements to federal officials and manufacturing and distributing labeled medical devices.
His name is Zhu Jiabei, also known as Zhu Jesse, He Qiang and He David. He is a 62-year-old Chinese citizen and former Clovis resident.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) records show that as of 2022, Universal Meditech Inc. has not been authorized “to manufacture or import any in vitro diagnostic test kits into the United States.” Any test kits produced and sold by the company since 2022 are considered “misbranded medical devices.”
From the end of 2020 to March 2023, the biolaboratory manufactured, imported, sold and distributed thousands of COVID-19 test kits as well as pregnancy tests, HIV tests and more.
According to U.S. Attorney Philip Talbot, Chu intentionally changed his name, business name and location.
Chu’s first court appearance is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 20, in Fresno federal court.