Corgenix Announces Establishment of Bioterrorism Defense Development Program

DENVER -- Corgenix Medical Corporation announced establishment of a program to develop a rapid detection system for viral hemorrhagic fevers, a disease category recognized and classified for its risk as potential agents of bioterrorism.  Viral hemorrhagic fevers are included in the high priority Category A of biological diseases as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Along with anthrax, botulism, plague, smallpox and tularemia, viruses causing hemorrhagic fevers have been identified as key targets in the effort to understand and combat potential agents of bioterrorism.

In commenting about this new initiative in bio-terrorism defense diagnostics, Douglass Simpson, Corgenix president said, This is a logical growth opportunity for Corgenix in a critical area that needs to be addressed on a national and international level.  Through our strategic relationships with industry and academic scientists we have access to some very promising viral technology that we believe will fit nicely with our existing delivery systems for testing and diagnosis.  With our collaborators, we expect to move through the research stage towards definitive diagnostic and detection systems, and have recently submitted a significant grant proposal to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for additional funding for this program. Simpson continued, Bioterrorism defense is a very important issue in this day and age, and we are confident that our collaboration with key industry and academic scientists will show meaningful results in a short period of time.  We expect to present our program to the CDC, U.S. Department of Defense, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security, among other important government agencies and interested parties.