NEW YORK, Feb. 14 (GenomeWeb News) - The Canadian government has awarded Cepheid and the Public Health Agency of Canada CA$780,000 ($675,000) to develop in-field nucleic acid assays for Ebola, Marburg, and Lassa fever viruses, Cepheid said today.
Under the agreement, Cepheid and the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory will develop the assays over a 2-year period based on Cepheid's GeneXpert technology.
The grants will be awarded from Canada's Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Research and Technologies Initiative, which comprises 14 government science-based and security departments and agencies.
Cepheid will retain the rights to the developed technology along with product distribution rights, it said.