This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop a prototype feasibility assay for low level detection of methacillin resistant Staphlococcus aureus (MRSA) protein biomarker, Penicillin Binding Protein 2a (PBP2a), using an innovative, patented detection technology. The company has developed a detection technology called Soluble Analyte Amplification, or SAM, a versatile diagnostic platform that is capable of identifying biological molecules at currently undetectable concentrations in solution. In the US over 94,000 patients acquire MRSA bloodstream infection yearly with a mortality rate of almost 20%. Currently, no diagnostic platforms can detect MRSA directly from blood. The project will use the SAM technology to develop an assay that will detect PBP2A in blood. The broader impacts of this research are the development of the innovative SAM technology that will serve as a springboard from which SAM will find multiple applications in human medicine. While clinical diagnostic testing has profoundly impacted healthcare delivery, the sensitivity of tests currently on the market do not have the ability to detect molecules at the low levels observed early in disease when treatment is more efficacious. Introduction of a SAM-based assay system as a sensitive and easy to use technology for detection of proteins, carbohydrates and other molecules of interest at very low concentration will enhance the understanding of many diseases and lead to important advances in therapeutics and early detection strategies
