Idaho Technology Receives $3.6M Grant to Further Develop Diagnostic Medical Testing Platform for Underserved Populations

SALT LAKE CITY–Idaho Technology, Inc. has been awarded $3.6 million from the National Institutes of Health to further develop the Point-of-Care FilmArray™ (POC FilmArray), a clinical diagnostic testing platform designed for underserved populations including the urban poor and rural communities. The device, which is capable of simultaneous testing for multiple viral and bacterial targets and delivers results in less than an hour, will initially focus on the diagnosis of respiratory pathogens, sepsis, and sexually transmitted infections.

“Modern medicine is largely practiced in hospitals, physicians’ offices and clinics but there are many regions of the country where healthcare facilities are not readily accessible. The POC FilmArray takes the hospital to the patient, providing timely and accurate diagnosis in less than an hour,” said Robert Crisp, R&D Scientist at Idaho Technology.

Common colds and coughs are easily spread in public places such as schools, shopping malls and fast food restaurants. For those without access to healthcare facilities the POC FilmArray is a quick and easy way to diagnose and stop the spread of disease. In the event of a pandemic outbreak, early testing of individuals would facilitate containment and control transmission in the general public.

The World Health Organization estimates infectious diseases cause approximately 20% of deaths each year and 50-90% of deaths in children. “H1N1 swine influenza has brought concerns regarding global preparedness for pandemic influenza. The first step in addressing these challenges requires the translation of molecular science into accurate, inexpensive, and point of care diagnostic tools that are applicable for use in traditional and non-traditional medical settings for detection and surveillance of established and emerging pathogens. The FilmArray is our answer to this challenge,” said Randy Rasmussen, president of Idaho Technology.

The Point-of-Care FilmArray is based on the company’s emerging technology platform, the FilmArray. The FilmArray provides a means to concurrently test for panels of pathogens, allowing for a symptom-centric approach to testing. FilmArray was first applied to detecting upper respiratory infection with a turnaround time of less than one hour. Adapting the FilmArray instrument to the rigors of non-traditional settings as well as development of a test for a panel of sexually transmitted infections will be supported by this funding.