With facilities in Wisconsin and Illinois, Diachemix Corporation is an agricultural diagnostics company that develops and sells rapid diagnostic tests, primarily using Fluorescence Polarization technology (FP), for animal diseases, grain mycotoxins, and food safety. The firm's business strategy is based on applying fluorescence polarization technology in markets where improved diagnostics are needed. Diachemix Corporation has initially developed a selection of FP diagnostic products for agricultural markets. Diachemix Corporation develops products independently as well as through collaborative projects. These research alliances are formed between Diachemix and leading research institutions. Academic, governmental and private research concerns provide expertise for selected target pathogen applications, while Diachemix provides a core competency in fluorescence polarization. Research collaborations are formed for both product development and product validation field studies. Fluorescence polarization diagnostic tests are quicker, easier, and less expensive to perform than competing test technologies in the agricultural markets. FP diagnostic tests are performed in seconds to minutes and are considered in many instances to be superior in performance to the Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) technology. FP diagnostic tests can be performed in high throughput applications of up to 40,000 samples per day per instrument. Multiple testing platforms are available. A one-well fluorescence polarization diagnostic instrument (the Sentry FP) has been developed for field use as well as for laboratories with lower volume testing needs. This instrument is lightweight and field portable, with no moving parts and minimal power requirements provided from a laptop computer battery. For high throughput applications, there are microtitre plate FP instruments available from other manufacturers. Instruments and tests available through Diachemix Corporation are being used by numerous national laboratories throughout the world and in selected state laboratories in the United States of America.
