Smiths Detection announced the award of a $2.2m, two-year grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), to develop a test for multiple types of influenza. The test will run on Smiths Detection’s Clinical Bio-Seeq instrument.
The test developed under this program will be designed to diagnose disease in humans and will be suitable for use in a conventional laboratory setting or in a point-of-care setting running on the company’s own clinical Bio-Seeq instrument. A similar test, developed by Smiths Detection outside the NIH grant program, will also be made available for diagnosing influenza infections in animals, including potential pandemic strains. The animal test will run on both desk top and field portable versions of the Bio-Seeq. Development of the field portable version is complete, and the desk top clinical diagnostic version will shortly enter clinical trials.
Smiths Detection also announced the award of a $1m, two-year grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) to develop a rapid test for eight micro-organisms that commonly cause burn/wound infections leading to septicemia (blood-poisoning). The test will also run on Smiths Detection’s Clinical Bio-Seeq System.
Under this grant, Smiths Detection will expand its collaboration with the University of California, Davis – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Point-of-Care (POC) Technologies Center, which focuses on pathogen detection for critical, emergency, and disaster care, Validation of the assay, as well as evaluation of the performance of Bio-Seeq in an ICU setting, will be conducted at the UC Davis Medical Center.
Development of this highly multiplexed test will be achieved by using Smiths Detection’s LATE PCR nucleic acid amplification and detection technology. This technology was licensed from Brandeis University, which will also support the project. The test will also be suitable for use in a conventional laboratory setting or in a point-of-care setting running on the company’s Clinical Bio-Seeq instrument.
Tags: Grants
