NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News)— Smiths Detection has received a $2.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a PCR-based test for multiple influenza types in humans, the London-based company said.

The two-year grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will support development of a test that will use LATE PCR technology on the company’s Bio-Seeq instrument and may be administered at the point of care or in a conventional lab.

Smiths Detection licensed the LATE PCR nucleic acid amplification technology from Brandeis University.

The firm also is developing a similar test for diagnosing influenza infections in animals that will use desktop and portable versions of the Bio-Seeq system.

"The pandemic influenza application makes excellent use of the full range of our diagnostic technologies, combining the need for a sophisticated highly multiplexed test with the need for rapid results at the point of care," Bill Mawer, who heads Smith Detections diagnostics business, said in a statement.