NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – ProGenTech and Innovative Biosensors jointly announced today that they will develop a rapid, integrated diagnostic system incorporating their respective technologies.
The collaboration will combine Innovative Biosensors' Cellular Analysis and Notification of Antigen Risks and Yields technology with ProGenTech's Enture Lite platform, which is a cassette-based system that contains reagents for RNA, DNA, protein, and cell-based testing applications. According to Emeryville, Calif.-based ProGenTech, the system enables the user to add samples to the cassettes, load the cassette into the Entura system, then press a button to start the analysis and walk away.
Innovative Biosensors' CANARY technology was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It consists of engineered biosensors that express membrane-bound, pathogen-specific antibodies and a calcium-sensitive bioluminescent molecule. The cross-linking of antibodies of specific pathogens leads to elevated intracellular calcium and light emission, the Rockville, Md.-based firm said.
Financial and other terms of the partnership were not disclosed.
Privately held ProGenTech also is developing a series of molecular diagnostic assays and a fully integrated system for detecting hospital-acquired infections. The firm's Chairman and CEO, Trevor Hawkins, is a former director of the department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute, a former CEO of Philips Molecular Healthcare and MDS, and a former executive at Amersham and GE.