Cepheid up 34 pct after anthrax venture announced
LOS ANGELES, March 11 (Reuters) - Shares of Cepheid Inc. <CPHD.O> rose 34 percent on Monday after the maker of systems for detecting contaminants and biological agents said it was developing bio-threat detectors for mail sorting systems.
Shares of the Sunnyvale, California-based company were up $1.00 at $3.96 in late trading on Nasdaq.
Cepheid, along with defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. <NOC.N> and a unit of London-based Smith's Aerospace, said they are collaborating to adapt DNA-based bio-threat detection technology for use on U.S. Postal Service mail sorting systems.
The Washington Post over the weekend quoted Postal Service chief engineer Tom Day as saying that the agency expects to spend $200 million for technology that can detect anthrax and similar dangers in the mail.
Northrop Grumman's shares were up $2.68, or more than 2.5 percent, at $108.60 on the New York Stock Exchange.
The companies said the planned system uses polymerase chain reaction technology to rapidly analyze air samples taken from mail sorting systems and detect trace levels of DNA from anthrax spores and other biological agents.
The postal service has said it is evaluating the technology for possible deployment later this year, but no contracts have been awarded, the companies said.
Last fall, Cepheid's shares rose sharply, reaching as high as $8.19 in early October, amid heightened U.S. fears of bioterrorism in the wake of the jetliner attacks of Sept. 11 and the spate of anthrax-laced letters that ultimately killed five people.
The company currently sells a system, used mainly for lifesciences research, that amplifies DNA in a sample, such as blood, to detect the presence of targeted substances.
14:04 03-11-02 |
