Companies to Collaborate on Bioweapons Detection

A collaboration focused on bioweapons and emerging-disease detection has been announced by Pria Diagnostics (Menlo Park, CA, USA) and Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN, USA).

The companies plan to combine Pria's miniaturized fluorescence reader with Vanderbilt's lab-on-a-chip diagnostic assays to develop products that can rapidly detect immunofluorescent antigens in a handheld package. They intend to use the combined technologies to produce laboratory-quality infectious disease testing, initially for applications in the detection of mobile bioweapons and emerging diseases.

Pria's microfluorimeter combines solid-state component, polymer optics, and an integrated digital control system to replace the complex machinery used in current fluorescent detectors. As a result, the platform is portable, lightweight, and mechanically robust in a device that can be manufactured at low cost in high volume. The microfluorimeter has the sensitivity and fidelity required in a wide range of fluorescent assays, including the screening for chemical and biologic weapons, chronic and infectious diseases, and hazardous environmental conditions.

"Vanderbilt has clearly differentiated itself as a world class research facility in the area of biological MEMS (microelectromechanical systems),” noted Jason Pyle, Ph.D., chief scientific officer for Pria. "The integration of their technology with our platform shows how fluorescence testing achieves diagnostic capabilities previously only available through a laboratory.”





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