High level validation for Kiwi anthrax scanner

High level validation for Kiwi anthrax scanner

A hand held bacterial spore detector developed for anthrax screening by Christchurch company Veritide Limited has scored outstanding results in tests carried out by an independent United States testing facility.

The company’s “Ceeker™” scanner accurately identified 100 percent of the anthrax samples used over two weeks of testing at the Midwest Research Institute in Florida and was correct in 95 percent of tests involving hoax substances. The test summary describes the technology as ‘demonstrating a high capability to identify spore forming bacteria presented as powders of pure culture’.

Chief Executive Officer Andrew Rudge says the results position Veritide as having the first proven technology in the world that can accurately and quickly detect potentially lethal spores. “Scoring 95 per cent and 100 per cent in these two tests is regarded as an excellent result. It’s almost unheard of to achieve 100 percent sensitivity,” says Mr Rudge.

“It’s a significant milestone for Veritide and gives us real credibility. A lot of companies have put a lot of effort into developing an anthrax detector but the market has been dogged by units that don’t work well, leading to scepticism among customers. These results provide solid evidence that the Ceeker™ will reliably detect the presence of anthrax.”

The testing was carried out in late March, 2009. The results are being presented today in Baltimore in the United States at Biodetection Technologies 2009, an international conference for experts in detection and identification of biological and chemical threats. Professor Lou Reinisch who led the team at the University of Canterbury that invented Veritide’s technology, will unveil the test findings. Professor Reinisch is a former Dean of Science at the University of Canterbury and now a professor at Jacksonville State University and part of the Veritide management team.

The two years of research and development that resulted in the Ceeker™ was part funded by a $450,000 investment from TechNZ, the business investment programme of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology. Eileen Basher, TechNZ’s Director Business Investments says the success of Veritide’s technology is a great achievement for a growing New Zealand company.

“Our support helped with validation of the science underpinning the technology and now its efficacy has also been underpinned by testing at a respected and independent laboratory. This is an excellent example of New Zealand knowledge being used to solve a real world and global problem.”

The successful US test results also trigger significant sales for Veritide from customers who pre-ordered the Ceeker™ but were waiting for results from direct testing for anthrax. The Ceeker™ had already been validated by New Zealand forensic testing laboratory ESR after multiple testing on hoax substances and anthrax simulants.

Veritide has also received $1.6 million of venture capital from Endeavour Capital and Ngai Tahu Capital and $50,000 market development funding from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.

The Ceeker™ is based on optical detection technology developed at the University of Canterbury and provides test results within a few minutes, in contrast to existing products and technologies that take between 30 minutes and three days to do the same job. It uses ultraviolet light and detection algorithms to detect bacterial spores and does not consume or destroy the sample being tested.

“Most existing devices rely on reagent-based wet chemistry, are typically unreliable and usually destroy the suspicious sample in the analysis process preventing follow up testing,” says Mr Rudge.

Mr Rudge says a sales trip to the United States late in 2008 indicated a demand for the Ceeker™ that was three to four times higher than originally expected.

The company’s first market is emergency “first responder” agencies which see the speed and reliability of the Ceeker™ as the key to reducing disruptions and evacuations by giving immediate feedback on whether they are dealing with a hoax or the real thing.

Andrew Rudge was the 2004 MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year, a competition organised by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.

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