MicroFluidic Systems Inc. (MFSI) and Quantum Magnetics, a subsidiary of InVision Technologies, Inc., (INVN), have signed a cooperation agreement to develop and produce an automated system to identify airborne pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and toxins.
MFSI has been awarded a prime contract by the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA) to develop a Bioagent Autonomous Networked Detector (BAND) system.
The HSARPA program is intended to improve upon technology currently deployed in the DHS BioWatch system at lower acquisition and operating cost, to allow wide deployment in urban areas for detection of potential biological threats. Quantum Magnetics will serve as a subcontractor on this contract.
Quantum Magnetics will be responsible for design and development of the wireless networking of the MFSI BAND system. InVision will assist MFSI and Quantum Magnetics in product design for manufacturability and commercial deployment.
"This is an exciting collaboration for MFSI and DHS. Quantum Magnetics and InVision will perform key steps and provide expertise in producing commercially-viable systems for pathogen detection," commented M. Allen Northrup, MFSI president and chief executive officer.
"We are very excited by the advancements in bio-detection being made by MFSI," said Andrew Siegel, InVision's senior vice president for corporate development.
"We're pleased to have this opportunity to support MFSI through the application of our understanding of what it takes to develop viable commercial systems for homeland protection."
