WASHINGTON, June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Gentag, Inc. and MacroArray Technologies, LLC have entered into a development program to design a wireless immunoassay incorporating Gentag's cell phone communication technology and MacroArray's urine diagnostic test for prostate cancer.
One in six males are at risk of developing prostate cancer, but unfortunately not all men are being tested. In order to simplify and expand the use of low cost wireless diagnostic assays for early cancer detection, Gentag, Inc. and MacroArray Technologies have teamed to develop a new wireless test platform that will incorporate Gentag's cell phone-sensor technology with MacroArray's proteomics discovery technology to create a series of new, patient friendly, disposable, wireless diagnostic tests. The first of these will be a test for prostate cancer based on MacroArray's proprietary reagents.
Similar to the currently available pregnancy strip test, men will place a urine sample on the test strip that incorporates an imbedded wireless sensor tag. The antibodies in the strip test will react with the antigens in the urine, the resulting data will be sensed by the imbedded electronic tag and communicated to a cell phone or PDA that will process the data and transmit the results to the attending physician.
During the past year, approximately 60 million PSA tests were performed worldwide and over 200,000 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer. Nearly 35,000 will die each year from the disease. It is hoped that the availability of a simple low cost urine-based test will increase the number of men who evaluate their prostate health on a regular basis.
"The proprietary technology from Gentag combined with MacroArray's biomarkers will provide a significant level of exclusivity in this market," commented Dr. John Peeters, CEO of Gentag. "The combination of our two companies will dramatically expand the utility of our diagnostic tests," commented Mr. Mike Wassil, CEO of MacroArray.
About MacroArray Technologies
MacroArray Technologies is a theranostics company with a proprietary proteomics discovery platform that provides the rapid ability to identify novel biomarkers for diseases such as cancer. Their goal is to provide products for early detection leading to better medical and economic outcomes. The company has a number of tests in development including the Pre-Malignant Prostate cancer and an early stage biomarker for colon cancer.
About Gentag, Inc.
Gentag, Inc. is a technology development company focusing on innovative, low-cost, wireless sensor network technologies based on cell phones. The company owns unique intellectual property relating to cell phone-sensor combinations and wireless sensor networks, including patents 7,109,859 and 7,148,803. The effective combination of cell phone reader technology with a disposable sensor platform has led to a variety of medical diagnostic applications providing consumers, physicians, and various industries with instant access to vital information over established wireless networks, the Internet, and client-specific databases. The company is the recipient of the 2008 North American Technology Innovation Award from Frost & Sullivan.
For inquiries, please contact Marc Onigman at (617)-413-2830. For licensing or investment opportunities please contact Mr. Tom Stagnaro at tom.stagnaro@gentag.com.
For more information, visit:
http://www.gentag.com/
http://www.macroarraytechnologies.com/
CONTACT: Marc Onigman, +1-617-413-2830; or investors, Tom Stagnaro,
tom.stagnaro@gentag.com
Web site: http://www.gentag.com//
http://www.macroarraytechnologies.com/
