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This NIH grant is the seventh such award obtained by the company under the Small Business Innovation Research program (SBIR).
"This grant positions us for commercial sales of Crypto-Scan in 1997," said Michael F. Brigham, ImmuCell's chief financial officer. "The existing technology to monitor water for this deadly parasite (Cryptosporidium) is not reliable, and there is a dire need for a product that can accurately identify this contaminant. This grant demonstrates that health experts recognize the strength of our technology relative to competitive technologies and appreciate the potential impact our test may have on the quality of drinking water worldwide."
The drinking-water test is designed to detect Cryptosporidium, which causes severe diarrhea and can lead to death in immune-compromised people. Cryptosporidium parvum has become more widely known since 403,000 Milwaukeeans were infected by drinking water contaminated with this microscopic parasite. One hundred persons -- most of them immune-compromised or otherwise susceptible to illness -- died in the outbreak.
"Cryptosporidium recoveries are low using the current analytical method," writes Frederick W. Pontius in the September 1996 issue of the Journal of American Water Works Association. "Rapid analysis is not possible with the current method and may take up to two weeks."
The Crypto-Scan test utilizes a patented vortex flow filtration technology developed by Membrex Inc. of Fairfield, N.J., to concentrate water samples, and then uses immuno-magnetic separation technology developed by ImmuCell to further concentrate and clean up the samples for detection of Cryptosporidum oocysts by microscopy. ImmuCell has a patent pending on the combined technology. Both companies have licensed their technology to a joint venture known as "Clearwater Diagnostics Company, LLC."
The joint venture intends to commercialize the Crypto-Scan test by next year either by licensing the product to an environmental-testing company in return for licensing fees and royalties or by raising money for the joint venture to commercialize Crypto-Scan and follow-on products directly. ImmuCell and Membrex currently are evaluating both of these options.
ImmuCell Corp. is a biotechnology company developing and manufacturing an alternative to antibiotics and vaccines -- milk-derived passive antibody products -- to prevent and/or treat gastrointestinal (GI) diseases in both humans and animals. In addition, ImmuCell is poised to commercialize a novel drinking-water test (Crypto-Scan) that detects a major and growing menace (Cryptosporidium) to drinking-water supplies worldwide.
CONTACT: ImmuCell Corp. Michael F. Brigham 207/878-2770 or Ronald Trahan Associates Inc. Ronald C. Trahan Jeffrey N. Goodman 508/651-1180
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