Tech Firm to Research Simple Anthrax Test
by January 17, 2005 12:00 am 69 views
Vegrandis LLC, a client of Fayetteville’s Virtual Incubation Co., has received a $100,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research award from the National Science Foundation. The award, which was made on Jan. 1, is Vegrandis’ fourth since its 2002 startup.
The SBIR award is specifically for the company to research an assay, or a biological test, which will detect low levels of Bacillus anthracis, the organism responsible for anthrax infections. The test will require a pinprick of blood and will provide results within 30 minutes, the company said.
Calvin Goforth, president of VIC, said after the six-month feasibility study for the anthrax test, the company will be eligible for the series of Phase II awards, which can be worth up to a $1 million. At that point, Vegrandis will expand the biological test to other areas of concern, he said.
Beyond bioterrorism testing, Vegrandis’ work could have great commercial appeal to the health care industry because it may provide on-the-spot tests for multiple pathogens, Goforth said.
Vegrandis develops, builds and sells micro arrays and laboratories-on-a-chip for clinical diagnostics, drug discovery, environmental monitoring and other applications, the company said.
SFC Fluidics LLC is also a client of VIC. That company is developing portable hardware that controls fluid flow, such as blood samples, through extremely small spaces, and translates test findings into usable data.