SALT LAKE CITY, UT –– Idaho Technology Inc. announced today that the company has been awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health and National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease Cooperative Research Partnerships for influenza product development. The grant will aid in funding a novel diagnostic platform for identifying a panel of specific respiratory viruses including H5N1 avian influenza. This platform will enhance surveillance and diagnosis of pandemic influenza strains while also diagnosing common respiratory viruses seen during yearly respiratory virus epidemic cycles.

The funding will total more than $8,750,000 and lead to a higher throughput version of Idaho Technology’s FilmArray™ instrument, which is currently in development. The FilmArray™ platform uses a chemical circuit board for the automatic preparation of samples and for analyzing up to 120 different gene targets simultaneously.

Collaborating on this project is Primary Children’s Hospital of Salt Lake City, University of Utah Hospital, and the Naval Medical Research Unit 3 in Cairo Egypt.

About Idaho Technology, Inc.
Idaho Technology, Inc, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, is the originator of rapid DNA analysis with applications including DNA amplification, real-time PCR and mutation discovery. ITI’s systems include biothreat detection systems (Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System or JBAIDS and the RAZOR® Instrument), biomedical research systems for gene quantification and mutation scanning (LightScanner® systems), and food protection systems (R.A.PI.D.® LT). Founded in 1990, ITI is a privately held company focused on worldwide applications in the defense, research, industrial and food testing markets. For more information, please visit http://www.idahotech.com.