Date: Feb 14, 2013 Source: PR Newswire (
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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., February 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Specific Technologies, today announced the company was awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The $2 million Phase II grant was awarded following successful execution of a $300K phase I. The grant will support the development of the company's solution for rapid identification of microorganisms producing blood stream infection.
Bloodstream infection causing sepsis is the 10th leading cause of death, responsible for 11% of ICU admissions, with a mortality rate estimated at 28% to 50%, adding up to $50K costs per patient. To determine blood infection worldwide more than 150 million blood cultures are performed annually.
Time is of the essence, survival rates decrease every hour without effective antibiotic treatment. Current blood culture practice typically takes 2 to 3 days before results can guide the effective antibiotic choice. Specific Technologies has demonstrated detection of infection and identification of species in blood culture 4-fold faster than the industry standard technology leading to early intervention that can save lives, with no increase in cost and with great reduction in lab labor and space required.
Ray Martino a founder and COO of Specific Technologies, commented, "Current blood culture systems can only indicate the presence or absence of bacteria, with no information regarding ID. Not only does the Specific Tech system provide ID during culture but analytical studies have shown ID is provided more than 20% faster than current systems simply detect a positive presence."
During growth in culture bacteria produce small molecule volatile metabolites unique to their species and strain. Specific has developed a system for identifying microorganisms from their metabolomic signature during culture. Current standard practice for identification of microorganisms requires completion of a blood culture and then requires additional time consuming and expensive molecular or chemical analysis.
Mr. Martino continued, "We are grateful for the support of the NIAID grant, which will assist in development of our blood culture products and speed deployment to save lives of those that suffer a bloodstream infection."
About Specific Technologies
Specific Technologies has developed in vitro diagnostic systems for rapid identification of microorganisms to diagnose infections that lead to serious medical conditions including sepsis. The company's unique, patented, metabolomic signature technology identifies microorganisms during culture growth before existing technologies based on molecular or chemical tests can be deployed resulting in faster diagnosis with less labor and no additional instruments. Specific Technologies is located in Mountain View, CA.
For additional information on the Company, please visit www.specifictechnologies.net .
