Development of NIDS® Based Handheld Assays Using Thermally Stable Recombinant Proteins

ANP Technologies, Inc. (ANP) previously served as the Research and Development laboratory for the Joint Service Agent Water Monitor (JSAWM) program. During this period, ANP has developed highly sensitive assays for the point detection of biological warfare agents and environmental contaminants in water borne samples in both single target (two-line) and multiplexed (multiple target) formats. Because of the NIDS® proprietary technologies, ANP handheld assays are typically 5-100X more sensitive than other assays of the same format due to the nanomanipulation technology which orients the binding proteins or antibodies optimally, thus dramatically increasing sensitivity and more importantly – completely eliminating Hook Effect, a deadly false negative result when testing highly concentrated samples that is typical in white powder events. These technologies also allow for the rapid assembly and testing of assays against new targets, particularly emerging threats with prototype assays typically being available within a short period of time after receipt of antibodies against the target(s) of interest. Under the proposed effort, ANP will develop rapid, heat stable handheld lateral flow immunoassays (LFI's) utilizing Thermally Stable Recombinant Proteins (TSRP) provided by the government with ANP’s Nano-Intelligent Detection System (NIDS®) platform technology to quickly detect various biological targets, particularly those emerging biothreats for which no highly stable, rapid (15-minute) point-detection platform is available.