FAST Diagnostics, a company engaged in the development of devices for identification of kidney injuries, has received additional $1 million in federal funding, the Manufacturing & Technology eJournal reports. The company will use the grant from the National Institutes of Health to further develop and validate its device technologies. The federal funding follows a $2 million grant the company received in 2008 from the state’s 21st Century Research and Technology Fund.

Grant procurement assistance was provided by the state’s SBIR/STTR office.

The technology was Originally developed by Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine. The company is partnering with Purdue University to assist in pre-clinical trials, and with Rose Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute to develop the device. The company expects human trials to begin in the second quarter of 2010, with a commercial launch of the product to follow in 2012. The company has 12 associates. It plans to create up to 65 new research, marketing and sales positions to support the device’s commercial launch.

“We are very pleased for the National Institutes of Health’s additional support for our development of this critical product. It continues to validate not only the soundness of the technology, but the critical need in the market,” said Joe Muldoon, chief executive officer of FAST Diagnostics. “We are excited to advance our whole product development, move into pre-clinical trials, and know that we are closer to eliminating some human suffering and improving AKI patient outcomes.”