LexaGene will work with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Chemical Biological Center to demonstrate the capabilities of the MiQLabTM, LexaGene’s flagship pathogen detection system, under a new Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA).
Under the agreement, LexaGene will deliver a MiQLab system to DEVCOM for the purpose of determining the system’s ability to detect Bacillus anthracis and Yersinia pestis, which cause anthrax and plague, respectively. DEVCOM will determine the system’s sensitivity (e.g., limit-of-detection) for these two pathogens as well as evaluate the system’s quantitative detection capability.
“This CRADA enables our team to work with biothreat specialists within DEVCOM who have access to unique biothreat samples and secure government laboratory facilities,” noted Dr. Manoj Nair, Director Applications & Assay Development at LexaGene. “This working arrangement is critical for us to advance our goal of providing technology for biothreat detection to the United States government.”
The relationship with the Dr. Jack Regan, LexaGene’s CEO and Founder,
“Early in my career, I helped develop the Autonomous Pathogen Detection System (APDS), which was selected by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to be the first autonomous detector component of their BioWatch antiterrorism program,” noted Dr. Jack Regan, LexaGene’s CEO and Founder. “Through this work, I was inspired to improve the APDS technology, so I invented the technology that LexaGene is now commercializing.”
The Select Agent research under the CRADA work will be conducted at both LexaGene and DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD.
“LexaGene’s MiQLab is open-access, making it much more nimble for quickly responding to a novel threat. I am very pleased to be working again with the U.S. government and look forward to demonstrating to the Army the benefits of the MiQLab’s open-access technology for the rapid detection of bio-threat agents,” said Regan.
Source: LexaGene
