Sept. 12, 2003 — Nanogen Inc. and Prodesse Inc. are developing microarray-based products to detect infectious diseases such as influenza, pneumonia, West Nile Virus and SARS, according to a news release.
The companies will integrate Milwaukee-based Prodesse’s multiplex amplification technology with San Diego-based Nanogen’s NanoChip Molecular Biology Workstation. The firms expect to produce a process for testing patient samples within hours, enabling physicians to obtain results and prescribe drugs.
Such an approach could help reduce overuse of antibiotics, which has increased antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria and decreased effectiveness of many antibiotics, the release said.