Tangen completed the first phase in February 2019 and delivered a functional TangenDx Instrument with a sensitive Anthrax test
Image: The first phase of the contract commenced in October 2017 and was valued at $3.2 million. Photo: Courtesy of Belova59 from Pixabay.
The US Department of Health and Human Services’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded Tangen Biosciences, the second phase of a contract to develop a field-deployable Anthrax diagnostic assay and expand the research to an antimicrobial resistance diagnostic assay.
The BARDA contract with Tangen Biosciences is, potentially, a 3.5-year project, which is expected to advance and expand the ability to combat the threat of Bacillus anthracis by utilizing the TangenDxTM Molecular Diagnostic System. TangenDx will provide a rapid, highly sensitive, low cost, and fully portable molecular diagnostic platform. The high sensitivity, portability, and speed provided by the Tangen platform is expected to facilitate a more accurate diagnosis of Anthrax, allowing for more effective treatment and improved response to outbreaks. The contract with BARDA will fund the development of the TangenDx instrument platform, with the anticipation of an FDA 510(k) clearance of the Anthrax molecular diagnostic assay and the development of additional tests to detect antimicrobial resistance markers directly from blood.
The first phase of the contract commenced in October 2017 and was valued at $3.2 million. Tangen completed the first phase in February 2019 and delivered a functional TangenDx Instrument with a sensitive Anthrax test. Independent testing by Battelle demonstrated the TangenDx test can detect Anthrax virulence genetic markers with sensitivity as low as, approximately, 5 CFU/ml from 3 ml whole blood samples.
The newly funded second phase of the contract, which started in July 2019, is for $3.8 million. It includes the development of a blood test for a panel of multiple drug resistance markers directly from blood for up to potentially 32 resistance markers or organisms. Dr. John Davidson, Chief Scientific Officer of Tangen stated “The ability to rapidly identify antimicrobial resistance without first culturing blood is a needed tool in the fight against rising antibiotic resistant infectious microbes.”
Source: Company Press Release.