Cepheid Receives Grant to Develop Ten-Color Real-Time PCR Detection Technology for Use in the GeneXpert...( New Capabilities Will Further Extend ...),Health

New Capabilities Will Further Extend GeneXpert System Technology Advantages

SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cepheid (Nasdaq: CPHD) today announced that it has received a notice of grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop new ten-color detection technology for use in its GeneXpert(R) System. The $7.5 million grant will be awarded to Cepheid and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) during the planned five-year program. When coupled with Cepheid's virtual array technology, the new ten-color system will have the potential to simultaneously detect up to 100 different targets per sample. Cepheid's current GeneXpert System is capable of six-color detection, with the potential for up to 60 different targets per sample.

"This program will be primarily driven by our special chemistry capability which, along with software development, is expected to allow for completion of the program with no hardware modifications," said John Bishop, Cepheid's Chief Executive Officer. "Existing GeneXpert System accounts will also be able to benefit from the expanded test menu that this program should enable."

The new ten-color technology is expected to deliver more cost-effective infectious disease panel testing applications by increasing the total number of diagnostic results per sample. The technology will also enable the development of new, comprehensive antimicrobial resistance and oncology tests.

"The workup of many infectious conditions requires considerable guesswork on the part of clinicians, who typically order multiple individual tests for suspected etiologic agents," said David Persing, M.D., Ph.D., Cepheid's Chief Medical and Technology Officer. "A ten-color cartridge, in combination with our virtual array techn
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