Microchip Biotechnologies, Inc. Awarded Contract Under US Army Commercialization Pil...( DUBLIN Calif. Sept. 17 /- Microch...)

DUBLIN, Calif., Sept. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Microchip Biotechnologies, Inc. (MBI) has been awarded a $625,000 contract under the inaugural US Army Commercialization Pilot Program for the development of a Universal Sample Preparation Module (USPM). The Commercialization Pilot Program is a new program to assist SBIR firms that have Phase II projects that meet high priority Army requirements in transitioning to commercial products.

MBI's project will develop a Universal Sample Preparation Module that will automatically purify DNA from pathogen targets contained in complex matrices to provide samples for various downstream DoD-sponsored analytical platforms. The USPM will enable front-end sample preparation with high specificity for rapid detection, identification, and diagnosis of biological threat agents and will be applicable to detecting pathogens for molecular diagnostics. Using MBI's Microscale On-chip Valves (MOV(TM)) technology, the USPM will integrate multiple sample processing steps in a small, universal sample preparation module that integrates immunomagnetic separation capture with lysis and nucleic acid purification.

"Easy-to-use sample preparation, under field conditions, has always been a major obstacle to deploying back end pathogen detection and identification devices as well as molecular diagnostics devices. The USPM will greatly simplify this process and improve detection sensitivity," said Dr. Joanne Horn, Project Manager, heading the USPM development at MBI.

About Microchip Biotechnologies Inc.

Microchip Biotechnologies, Inc. (MBI) is developing the Apollo next-generation fluidics platform for Life Sciences, Applied Sciences, and Diagnostics markets. The Apollo platform incorporates MBI's proprietary BeadStorm(TM). bead-based sample preparation devices and patented "Microscale On-chip Valves" (MOV(TM)) valves, pumps, and routers on microchips to integrate, automate, and simplify workflows. The Company's first product,
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