Advanced Liquid Logic Receives $5.2 Million NIH Contract For HIV Diagnostics

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Article Date: 05 Oct 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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Advanced Liquid Logic announced that it has received a large, four-year contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, for the development of a rapid, point-of-care, diagnostic device for the detection of HIV in low resource settings.

Advanced Liquid Logic co-founder and the HIV study's Principal Investigator Michael Pollack said, "Our substantial developmental progress and the promise of a sample-to-answer solution in molecular diagnostics made this award possible. Molecular diagnostics is a great application for digital microfluidics because the technology is uniquely positioned to provide highly complex testing capability in a compact and easy to use instrument."

Advanced Liquid Logic will award a major subcontract to principal investigators Thomas Denny and Georgia Tomaras, Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI), to support the development of viral load and antibody measurements and field trials. Thomas Denny, said, "This is an exciting opportunity to work toward development of an accurate and affordable test for use in monitoring HIV/AIDS patients in resource challenged areas."

In recent years HIV/AIDS treatment medications have become more available globally but many areas of the world lack access to reliable treatment monitoring. "Pending successful development, the application of this new technology in low income countries could mean the difference between life and death for many people," said Michael Merson, director of the Duke Global Health Institute. "This is yet another example of an exciting, innovative technology originating at Duke."

This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. HHSN272200900030C.

About Advanced Liquid Logic, Inc.

Advanced Liquid Logic was founded to develop and exploit a new technology for micro-liquid-handling called digital microfluidics which was pioneered at Duke University. Small droplets are flexibly manipulated electrically under software control to perform even the most complex liquid-based testing. Portable equipment without pumps, valves, or pipes is used in conjunction with a disposable lab-on-a-chip. Advanced Liquid Logic is developing its first commercial products for the research and clinical diagnostics markets.

Source
The Duke Human Vaccine Institute

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