National DoD Award
Prestigious Award Recognizes GeneCapture’s Advances in Breakthrough Rapid Pathogen Detection Platform
April 19, 2023
HUNTSVILLE, AL— GeneCapture, developer of a novel point-of-care pathogen diagnostic platform technology, has been awarded the prestigious Nunn-Perry Award from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP). The Mentor Protégé Program is designed to assist small businesses with technical and organizational skills to prepare for DoD contracting.
GeneCapture, an associate company on the campus of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, Alabama, is developing a rapid, portable multi-pathogen detection system for far forward. In these remote and austere environments, the Warfighter is vulnerable to infection. The platform also addresses various applications in public health, biothreat, and rural health needs.
The annual award, named for Senator Sam Nunn and former Secretary of Defense William Perry, both of whom were instrumental in the establishment of the program, celebrates GeneCapture’s progress as the company advances towards the next phase of commercialization. Tec-Masters, Inc., a defense contractor in Huntsville, AL, played a pivotal role as the company’s mentor during the multi-year program, demonstrating the program's effectiveness in fostering growth and innovation in small businesses.
Deputy Undersecretary of the Army, Mr. Mario Diaz, presented the award to CEO Peggy Sammon at the Mentor Protégé Summit in Orlando, Florida, on March 30th. Sammon, a veteran entrepreneur and cofounder of GeneCapture with Dr. Krishnan Chittur, is commercializing the multi-pathogen detection platform and a complementary point-of care antibiotic susceptibility platform to address the Defense, Government, and Commercial Health space.
The company forecasts submission for FDA clearance for the pathogen identification platform next year, with analytical and clinical study designs developed and internal testing underway.
The efforts facilitated by the Mentor Protégé Program helped GeneCapture win eight additional contracts totaling $4 million from the DoD to mature the technology. GeneCapture also won a spot in the highly competitive Xtech Accelerator for dual-use technologies. Defense agencies supporting the development include the Office of Chemical and Biological Defense, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the Defense Health Agency, the U.S. Air Force, and a U.S. Army-funded contract through the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium. During the program, several patents were filed, a sample-to-answer cartridge was produced, a novel antibiotic susceptibility platform was developed, and a handheld viral diagnostic was designed. Pathogen diagnostic panels for biothreat, wound, urinary tract, and invasive fungal infections have been developed. The platforms are currently in various prototype and testing phases in the GeneCapture lab. Once commercialized, GeneCapture’s technology platforms are expected to provide a transformative capability in protecting Warfighter health and improving readiness against emerging biological threats, in addition to the numerous public health benefits.
“This is a team win for the remarkable scientists and engineers at GeneCapture and the companies that supported us during this Mentor Protégé Program, including Tec Masters, Inc., Meharry Medical College, The Catalyst, and Oakwood University. We are grateful to be recognized for this most prestigious Nunn-Perry Award from the Department of Defense Mentor Protégé Program, which continues to support small businesses that are bringing innovations and solutions to the Warfighter,” remarked Peggy Sammon, GeneCapture CEO.
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Read the full press release here.