PLEASANTON, Calif., 22 July 2007. Arcxis Biotechnologies won a Phase II award from the Department of Homeland Security to continue development of the BioPhalanx analyzer, a hand-portable instrument designed to rapidly detect bio-threats in the field.
The $1 million award follows the completion of Phase I, where a novel tentacle probe was demonstrated, providing DHS researchers with the first genomic assay that does not report false positive results for two important biological threat agents, Bacillus anthracis and Yersina pestis (the bio-threat agents for anthrax and plague respectively).
Phase II, which includes a "fast track" option, will help to fund product development by leveraging several technical advancements that are part of the Arcxis intellectual property portfolio. It will combine Arcxis micro preparation cards (MPC) for rapid sample preparation, Arcxis micro channel-based microarrays (MCM) for sensitive nucleic acid detection, and Arcxis tentacle probes for the design of several specific assays targeted at potential bio-threats.
The BioPhalanx Analyzer is designed to be robust enough to be deployed in harsh environments and following the successful testing in the field, a decision will be made on the timing of the BioPhalanx Analyzer's unrestricted launch into the marketplace.
