NIH awards InDevR $3 million Phase II SBIR grant for influenza-related research

InDevR announced today that it has been awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health in the amount of $3 million over the next 3 years.

The grant, titled "Simultaneous Screening for A/H3N2, A/H1N1, A/H5N1 and B Influenza Viruses," will fund the development of an integrated sample-to-result molecular diagnostic platform for which influenza screening is the first targeted test.

"We are delighted to receive continued support from the NIH to advance our FluChip technology for accurate, rapid and cost-effective identification of influenza viruses," said Kathy L. Rowlen, PhD, InDevR's CEO and Chief Science Officer.

The grant was issued by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and comes at the completion of a successful $600,000 two-year Phase I award to refine a low-density microarray assay for influenza virus identification. Rowlen said Phase II efforts will focus on combining the FluChip low-density microarray with a colorimetric detection method (ampliPHOX) and integrating the entire assay into a cost-effective, cartridge-based instrument platform targeted for eventual clinical diagnosis.

The foundational intellectual property associated with the FluChip- and ampliPHOX- technologies are licensed from the University of Colorado Boulder. According to David Allen, Associate Vice President at the University of Colorado Technology Transfer Office, "The combination of InDevR's FluChip and ampliPHOX technologies represents a promising and innovative approach and that could have high impact on influenza diagnostics."