A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

Science Applications International (SAI; San Diego) reported it has been awarded a contract from the Department of Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health (NIH), to provide regulatory affairs support to the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases, Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID; Bethesda, Maryland). The contract has a seven year period of performance and a total value of more than $19 million. Work will be performed primarily at SAIC offices in Frederick, Maryland.

DMID supports research to treat and prevent diseases caused by virtually all human infectious agents. It manages a wide variety of projects including the development and clinical evaluation of new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics.

Under this contract, SAIC will provide regulatory expertise, and technical and administrative support for clinical research programs. Additional services will include the review, preparation and submission of regulatory documents; education and training; expertise for study report review; compliance audits; and document tracking, maintenance, and archival.

"We look forward to applying our expertise in biomedical and regulatory affairs to a program that improves national and global health through clinical research and development of new drugs, biologics and devices to treat or prevent infectious diseases," said Robert McCord, SAIC senior vice president and business unit general manager.

SAIC is a scientific, engineering, and technology applications company.

In other agreements/contracts:

• Acuo Technologies (St. Paul, Minnesota) developers of software for medical image management, data migration tools and services, reported that its DICOM Services Grid is being used in the distribution of timely information monitoring the impact of malaria in Malawi, Africa by Michigan State University (East Lansing).

Since the vast majority of malaria patients are children, it is critical to use new technologies to quickly assess the damage malaria does to a child. Physicians now can diagnose and study the affect the disease has on an infected child's brain, something that previously could only be done in an autopsy.

The Acuo DICOM Services Grid plays an important role in receiving the images from the MRI by storing and rapidly sending them to the physicians across the Atlantic. Once received, radiologists evaluate images and provide critical input to the treating physicians.

The DICOM Services Grid builds the foundation for a vendor neutral medical imaging grid environment allowing sharing and collaboration regardless of the proprietary systems producing, storing or viewing the images.

Michigan State University also will be using the Acuo DICOM Assisted Migration to move and virtualize data between its existing proprietary archive with its new GE Healthcare 3.0 Medical Imaging Environment. This new environment employs mirrored EMC CX-340 CLARiiONS providing an automated solution for business continuity.

• Caprion Proteomics (Montreal) reported that it has been awarded a $12.9 million contract by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, to carry out Biodefense research in the area of infectious disease biomarkers.

Under the contract to be performed over a five-year period, Caprion will act as one of two NIAID Clinical Proteomics Centers for Infectious Disease & Biodefense, and will employ its CellCarta quantitative protein profiling technologies to perform several large scale applied proteomics projects using human clinical samples from patients with infectious diseases. The projects will be aimed at the discovery, qualification, and verification of candidate biomarkers with potential for clinical use to improve detection and diagnosis and to monitor therapeutic and vaccine responses and susceptibility to infection for diseases caused by various pathogens. This second major Biodefense research contract awarded to Caprion by NIAID builds on the expertise and results demonstrated by Caprion as part of an initial contract awarded in 2004 and still in progress.

Caprion Proteomics is a provider of proteomics-based services to the pharmaceutical industry.

• DR Systems (San Diego) makers of the Unity RIS/PACS, reported four new contracts with healthcare facilities, totaling about $2.19 million. The four new facilities with which DR has contracts are: Western Missouri Medical Center (Warrensburg, Montana); Northern Maine Medical Center (Fort Kent, Maine); Riverview Hospital Association (Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin); and Coastal Cancer Care and Diagnostic Center (Pismo Beach, California).

The largest contract was for about $746,000, with the smallest contract at about $240,000. This range reflects the scalable nature of DR Systems' RIS/PACS.

DR System is an independent provider of medical imaging and information systems for diagnostic imaging centers and hospitals.

• ProGenTech Limited (Emeryville, California) a life sciences & diagnostics company has signed a licensing agreement with Human Genetic Signatures, (HGS; Sydney, Australia) life science company to gain access to key hospital-acquired infection targets, payment terms were not disclosed.

This new relationship with HGS marks the formal launch of ProGenTech's Applied Sciences business which will take products and solutions into the Molecular Diagnostics, Forensics and Immunoassay market segments.