Vergrandis Gets $500,000 Award for Malaria Test
by March 13, 2006 12:00 am 98 views
Technology company Vegrandis LLC of Fayetteville recently received a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research award from the National Science Foundation.
Vegrandis, a client of Virtual Incubation Corp., uses “microelectrochemical” technology to measure pathogens in small amounts of blood or other body fluids. The company develops, builds and sells micro arrays and laboratories-on-a-chip for clinical diagnostics.
The $500,000 award is for Vegrandis to research a quick, on-the-spot test for malaria. The ability to rapidly detect the type and degree of malaria infection in an individual will allow a physician to provide treatment to minimize effects of the disease.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, there were 1,337 cases of malaria reported in the U.S. in 2002. Eight of those cases were fatal.