A Medical Device Daily
OSI Systems (Hawthorne, California) said its optoelectronics and manufacturing division, OSI Optoelectronics , has received a contract for about $6.3 million from an international Fortune 500 medical equipment company, though that company was not named.
The follow-on contract is for detector electronic sub-assemblies to be used in an advanced medical computed tomography machine.
OSI Optoelectronics will make semiconductor photodiodes at its Wafer Processing Center (also Hawthorne), with the final subsystem detector electronic module being produced through its Norwegian subsidiary, Advanced Micro Electronics (Horten, Norway). Shipment of the assemblies is expected to be complete within the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007.
“Our medical OEM business continues to build its reputation internationally when it comes to complex global manufacturing and assembly contracts,” said Manoocher Mansouri, president of Osi Optoelectronics.
OSI Systems provides specialized electronic products for applications in the security and healthcare industries.
In other contracts news:
Nanogen (San Diego) reported being awarded a $4.5 million contract from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Atlanta) to develop a multi-analyte point-of-care (POC) diagnostic assay for influenza in support of U.S. Government efforts to strengthen readiness for a potential influenza pandemic. Nanogen technology will be used in a low-cost, high-sensitivity POC immunoassay that simultaneously detects Influenza Type A, Type B, seasonal flu and avian flu in a simple assay format.
The development program is partnered with HX Diagnostics (Menlo Park, California), which will commercialize the product upon approval.
The $4.5 million award funds the first two phases of a five-phase development project and, if all phases are funded by the CDC, could total about $12.5 million over the next two to three years.
Howard Birndorf, Nanogen’s CEO and chairman, said, “A rapid test for bird flu could play a significant role in tracking infections and warding off epidemic spread of this dangerous virus.” The Nanogen product under development is a third-generation high-sensitivity lateral flow test designed to be accurate, highly portable, and simple to use yet with a cost similar to current influenza POC tests sold today.