A Medical Device Daily
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta) reported that it has made $11.4 million in new contracts to four companies developing diagnostic tests to quickly test patients for avian influenza H5N1 and other emerging influenza viruses, as well as more common influenza viruses. It said these tests could provide public health experts with information on the influenza viruses circulating and help monitor for viruses that could cause a global influenza pandemic.
The companies and proposed tests and funding amounts: GeneXPert (Sunnyvale, California), flu assay, $2.4 million; Iquum (Marlborough, Massachusetts), LIAT (Lab-in-a-Tube), $3.8 million; MesoScale (Gaithersburg, Maryland), multi-array Detection, $706,241; and Nanogen (San Diego), a novel point-of-care immunoassay, $4.5 million.
During the next year, the four companies will work to create tests that would detect seasonal human influenza viruses and differentiate influenza A H5N1 from seasonal human influenza viruses within 30 minutes. Because influenza viruses are constantly changing, the tests also would need to be quickly adapted if the virus mutates over time or if new viruses emerge.
The CDC said the funding is intended to advance work enabling commercialization of these products in two to three years.
“We have seen avian influenza infections since 1997, but we unfortunately still do not have a good way to quickly and easily distinguish at a patient’s bedside whether they suffer from H5N1 or a more common type of influenza,” said CDC Director Julie Gerberding.
Existing point-of-care tests can only determine if the patient is infected with seasonal influenza viruses A or B but cannot identify avian influenza H5N1. To test for H5N1, patient samples currently must be sent to one of about 100 designated labs nationwide that can perform specialized testing. The process can take four to 24 hours to complete, depending on shipping of samples.
In other contract news:
EDS (Herndon, Virginia) said it has been selected as a prime contractor for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) VistA Contractor Services (VCS) program.
EDS is one of eight companies selected under a blanket purchasing agreement (BPA) worth about $1 billion, over a potential 10-year term, including options and award term periods.
EDS will provide applications, maintenance and services for Veterans Health Information Systems Technology and Architecture (VistA), to be available for use by authorized offices and organizations throughout the VA. The agreement is intended to transform the VA software system into an open architecture, should the VA decide to move in this direction, EDS said.
• B. Braun Medical (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania), which focuses on healthcare products and services, reported receiving a contract Premier Purchasing Partners , the healthcare group purchasing unit of Premier (San Diego), to supply isposable renal therapy products to all U.S. Premier members. The contract, which went into effect Nov. 1, is an addendum to a five-year agreement encompassing all major B. Braun infusion products.
The new agreement includes DiaLines SAF T Bloodlines, UltrasiteValve, Duosol CRRT Solution, and Filter Straw, among others. The new contract for renal therapy products, is valid through 2009.
• KMS Computer Services (Kokomo, Indiana), a subsidiary of PaperFree Medical Solutions (PFMS; also Kokomo), said it has been contracted by Bona Vista (also Kokomo) to provide billing services, management consulting and claims processing support to their physical therapy and rehabilitation services in Kokomo.
Bona Vista programs provides rehabilitative services to individuals beginning at birth, with locations in Kokomo, Peru, and Tipton, Indiana.
PaperFree provides hardware, software and services to practitioners, doctors and other health providers.