Affymetrix licenses its microarray technology to Tessarae

More biodefense testing news from Santa Clara, California-based Affymetrix, a biotechnology company involved in everything from Lou Gherig’s Disease to cancer. The company announced this week that it had granted Tessarae, known for having completed $35 million in Department of Defense research for its TessArray RPM-Flu3.0 array, non-exclusive access to its microarray technology to develop and market epidemiological research tests for public health and biodefense surveillance. The agreement was reached under the California company’s Powered by Affymetrix program and reflects ongoing concerns at the federal level about authorities’s ability to monitor epidemics from their infancy, when response measures would be most effective.

Unlike traditional microbial detection and identification methods, which are based on phenotypic traits such as the organism’s ability to grow on certain carbon sources, the TessArray kits are based on multiplexed genotypic signatures designed to detect upper respiratory pathogen-specific target sequences. “The new Affymetrix microarray-based TessArray kits represent common viral and bacterial pathogens associated with acute respiratory disease and pneumonia, as well as biothreat agents that can elicit similar respiratory symptoms,” said Tessarae’s Clark Tibbetts. The idea is to offer a single specimin, same-day test that not only can distinguish between avian flu and less virulent influenzas, but can can also identify unknown mutations of these pathogens that might present an elevated health risk. “The availability of these types of microarray-based testing kits and services will allow epidemiologists to better monitor the spread of pathogens and detect mutations that may alter their potential to cause a pandemic,” said Affymetrix’s Robert Lipshutz.

-read more in this GenEngNews report