Protein AI, a Seattle-based developer of a diagnostic test for leprosy, has received a $700,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant. The disease is currently detected when a doctor recognizes skin lesions or runs an antibody-based lab test. Protein AI’s test is designed so a pinprick of blood can be collected and provide an answer within 15 minutes, says CEO Darrick Carter. The test should be on the market by the end of 2009 or early 2010, he says.
Author: Luke Timmerman
Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.
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