CombiMatrix Receives New Contract From U.S. Department of Defense
Monday July 14, 9:00 am ET
MUKILTEO, Wash., July 14, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- CombiMatrix Corporation (NasdaqGM:CBMX - News) announced today that it has received a new contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to continue development of products and technologies for military use. This new contract is for $922,610, to be executed over a fifteen-month period.
A key goal of this contract is the development of a hand-held detection system that is the size of a deck of playing cards, thus enabling this instrument to be more easily taken into the field of operations. For civilian markets, such a device will enable point-of-care testing as well as other applications and markets that are currently not accessible due to instrument size, complexity and/or expense.
Under previous contracts with the Department of Defense, CombiMatrix has developed and demonstrated assays for the simultaneous detection of toxins, viruses, and bacteria using immunoassay and genetic analysis. CombiMatrix's semiconductor microarray technology serves as a versatile platform for the development of these assays along with ``on chip'' electrochemical detection, which eliminates the need for instrumentation that is complex and expensive. Instrumentation and assays developed under these previous contracts have been sold to military and government customers as well as to customers in the private sector. Domestic and international agencies have purchased and are using such technologies for evaluation of agents that could be used in warfare or in a terrorist attack, as well as for civilian applications including the evaluation of natural infectious diseases such as Avian Influenza and other respiratory diseases.
``This funding will allow us to continue to expand our technical capabilities and improve features that are of interest to our military,'' stated Dr. David Danley, Director of Homeland Defense of CombiMatrix Corporation. ``The military and other government agencies continue to have requirements for a small, rugged detection and diagnostic platform with extensive capabilities. All of our efforts are focused on developing, demonstrating, and providing a suite of products to meet these requirements.''
``We are pleased to have received this contract as well as our previous contracts. We hope to continue our technology progress and develop dual-use products that meet the needs of the military as well civilian markets,'' stated Dr. Amit Kumar, President and CEO of CombiMatrix Corporation. |
