BD invests $4.5M in US Genomics

Massachusetts, USA-based US Genomics has received a $4.5 million equity investment from Becton, Dickinson and Co and says that the companies have entered into a strategic collaboration for development of a novel infectious disease diagnostic platform. The collaboration will focus on application of US Genomics' DirectLinear Analysis technology for the detection of a wide range of infectious organisms in a single molecular diagnostic test. A diagnostic platform based on DLA has the potential to provide information to physicians concerning pathogen identity, virulence and drug resistance within hours, as opposed to the multi-day techniques, such as culturing, plating and staining that are done today.

US Genomics has invested in excess of $50.0 million in DLA technology, which integrates novel labeling strategies, advanced microfluidics and optical engineering to enable pathogens to be identified by rapidly analyzing individual DNA molecules present in a clinical sample. The technology is capable of simultaneously detecting a broad range of infectious organisms in a single diagnostic test. A diagnostic test based on DLA has the potential to provide clinicians and doctors' information important for patient health, such as which drugs a specific pathogen may be resistant to, and which drugs could be used for most effective patient treatment.