NGEN up on this pr just out-
(COMTEX) B: Nanogen Wins CDC Contract to Develop Avian Flu Diagnostic ( Bu
inessWire )
B: Nanogen Wins CDC Contract to Develop Avian Flu Diagnostic ( BusinessWire )
SAN DIEGO, Dec 04, 2006 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Nanogen, Inc. (Nasdaq:NGEN), developer of advanced diagnostic
products, announced today it has been awarded a $4.5 million contract
from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to
develop a unique multi-analyte Point-Of-Care (POC) diagnostic assay
for Influenza in support of the US Government's efforts to strengthen
its readiness for a potential influenza pandemic. The goal of the
development is to employ proprietary Nanogen technology in a low cost,
high sensitivity POC immunoassay that simultaneously detects Influenza
Type A, Type B, seasonal flu (H1N1 and H3N2) and avian flu (H5N1) in a
simple to use assay format. This development program is partnered with
HX Diagnostics, Inc., which will commercialize the product upon
approval. The current award of $4.5 million funds the first two phases
of a five-phase development project and, if all five phases are funded
by the CDC, can total approximately $12.5 million over the next two to
three years.
"The success of our bid is a strong endorsement of our
capabilities as a diagnostic company and our expertise in areas like
rapid immunoassay technology," said Howard C. Birndorf, Nanogen's
chairman of the board and CEO. "A rapid test for bird flu could play a
significant role in tracking infections and warding off epidemic
spread of this dangerous virus."
The Nanogen product under development is a third generation high
sensitivity lateral flow test designed to be accurate, highly
portable, and simple to use yet with a cost similar to current
influenza POC tests sold today. The immunoassay technology underlying
the design builds upon that employed in Nanogen's current cardiac
infarction products, which are capable of delivering results at the
point of care in as little as 15 minutes.
The test format is also designed to be readily adapted to detect
new strains of the influenza virus as they emerge. Once
commercialized, health professionals could use this test to diagnose
seasonal influenza and as an "early warning system" to identify
individuals with typical flu symptoms who may harbor a potentially
pandemic subtype, giving public health officials early notice of the
emergence of a new subtype. Also, as it will be in general use for
seasonal flu testing, it would be immediately available to deploy to
rapidly and accurately differentiate people with similar symptoms as
having non-flu, seasonal-flu or pandemic-flu in the event of a
pandemic. Nanogen believes this product will be highly competitive and
will meet all criteria for cost, performance, ease of use, and be
highly deployable with a long shelf life.
About Nanogen, Inc.
Nanogen's advanced technologies provide researchers, clinicians
and physicians worldwide with improved methods and tools to predict,
diagnose, and ultimately help treat disease. The company's products
include real-time PCR reagents, the NanoChip(R)400 electronic
microarray platform and a line of rapid, point-of-care diagnostic
tests. Nanogen's ten years of pioneering research involving
nanotechnology holds the promise of miniaturization and continues to
be supported for its potential for diagnostic and biodefense
applications. For additional information please visit Nanogen's
website at www.nanogen.com.
About HX Diagnostics, Inc.
Founded in 2006, HX is a diagnostics company based in Menlo Park,
California. HX is focused on the development and commercialization of
infectious disease diagnostics including seasonal and pandemic flu
diagnostics that allow physicians and front line care providers to
make rapid assessments of a patient's health status. HX has
relationships with leading avian flu researchers across the globe and
has a product development collaboration with Nanogen, Inc. where
Nanogen will develop a rapid immuno assay for seasonal and pandemic
flu utilizing their third generation lateral flow technology that HX
will commercialize worldwide. The principle investor of HX is Kleiner
Perkins Caufield & Byers Pandemic and Biodefense Fund. For more
information, visit www.kpcb.com.
Nanogen Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are
subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking
statements, including whether patents owned or licensed by Nanogen
will be developed into products, whether the patents owned by Nanogen
offer any protection against competitors with competing technologies,
whether products under development can be successfully developed and
commercialized, whether results reported by our customers or partners
can be identically replicated, and other risks and uncertainties
discussed under the caption "Factors That May Affect Results" and
elsewhere in Nanogen's Form 10-K or Form 10-Q most recently filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. There is also no assurance
that all of the phases of the CDC development agreement will be funded
by the Federal government, that the development program will be
successful if fully funded, or that the assay to be developed by
Nanogen will be selected by CDC for use under its auspices if that
development is successful. These forward-looking statements speak only
as of the date hereof. Nanogen disclaims any intent or obligation to
update these forward-looking statements.
SOURCE: Nanogen, Inc.
Nanogen, Inc.
Robert Saltmarsh, Chief Financial Officer, 858-410-4600
or
Suzanne Clancy, Corporate Communications, 858-410-4688
sclancy@nanogen.com
or
Porter Novelli Life Sciences
Kim Richards, Media & Investor Relations, 619-849-5377
krichards@pnlifesciences.com
or
HX Diagnostics, Inc.
Risa Stack, CEO, 650-233-3378
rstack@kpcb.com
Copyright Business Wire 2006
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03-29-2006 for NGEN @ $3.26.
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