PositiveID Corporation announced today that it has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to further enhance the company’s real-time PCR pathogen detection system, Firefly Dx.
PositiveID will work with USSOCOM’s Special Operations Research, Development, & Acquisition Center, Science & Technology Directorate (SORDAC-ST) on advanced development of the Firefly Dx for use by Special Operations Forces in their unique mission roles.
PositiveID’s Firefly Dx is a point-of-need, handheld system designed to deliver molecular diagnostic results using real-time PCR chemistry. Firefly Dx is being developed to meet the growing need in military and healthcare markets for more rapid and accurate point-of-need diagnostics that will enable hospitals, physicians, deployed military personnel, and others to save lives.
Firefly Dx is designed to derive results from a sample in less than 20 minutes, at the point of need, compared to two to four hours for a laboratory-based device, which could enable accurate diagnostics leading to more rapid and effective treatment at the point of care than what is currently available or non-existent with existing systems.
Through the CRADA, PositiveID will receive requirements, priorities, feedback, and human factors/human systems integration support to facilitate its ability to support SOF technology needs.
“We are very proud to work in partnership with the Department of Defense and USSOCOM to help fill their need for novel technologies and systems that can be used to safeguard those who protect our country,” said William J. Caragol, Chairman and CEO of PositiveID. “We intend to utilize their expert guidance as we continue to develop the prototype of Firefly Dx.”
Source: PositiveID press release, adapted.
