The LiDia platform from DNAe.
DNA Electronics, London, has opened a new US facility in preparation for commercializing its first product. DNAe also announced a new brand identity.
Located in Carlsbad, Calif, DNAe’s new site expands the company’s operations in the United States and provides a specialized development and manufacturing base for its first product under the LiDia brand. The facility was officially opened in February with a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall and Councilman Michael Schumacher.
The Carlsbad site houses 15,000 square feet of laboratories, including specialized cleanrooms and 9,000 square feet of office space. The site currently employs 38 people, following relocation from the company’s previous facility in Albuquerque, NM, with recruitment still ongoing.
The Carlsbad facility will play a key role in integrating DNAe’s technologies, namely high-sensitivity sample processing and rapid DNA analysis. The Carlsbad site aims to provide DNAe with the capacity to complete final development and begin commercial manufacture of its first test for bloodstream infections.
Victor Esch, DNA Electronics Inc.
“As we prepare to begin manufacturing our lead product, our new facility in Carlsbad enables us to tap into a wide pool of local talent and world-class industry partners to support the next phase in our development,” says Victor Esch, president and CEO of DNA Electronics Inc, who is based at the new Carlsbad facility. “With these new facilities and our strong and growing team, we are in an excellent position to make a game-changing impact in the infectious disease diagnostics space. Our first products will specifically address the huge global need for rapid diagnostics for sepsis.”
“Carlsbad is home to an active scientific community, and we welcome DNAe, and the opportunities and skills it brings to the area,” Hall says.
DNAe’s diagnostic platform will be named LiDia. Based on DNAe’s Genalysis DNA analysis technology, LiDia uses a combination of novel approaches, including ultrasensitive sample preparation and semiconductor-based DNA analysis, all within a single cartridge. The first LiDia test will be for bloodstream infection, and will offer a broad test panel capable of identifying the most critical suspected pathogens associated with bloodstream infections, as well as key antibiotic resistance markers.
The LiDia test for bloodstream infection operates directly from blood, delivering a clinically relevant report to the physician. Unlike current blood culture-based diagnostics, which can take 2 to 6 days to produce a result, LiDia will offer a ‘blood-to-result’ readout in just a few hours.
The introduction of the platform name is accompanied by a new website and brand identity for DNAe. The new website can be accessed at www.dnae.com.
Steve Allen, PhD, DNAe Group.
“The opening of our Carlsbad facility lays the foundation for the next phase of our story, as we commercialize our technology toward market introduction of LiDia,” says Steve Allen, PhD, CEO of DNAe Group. “We are excited to be able to deliver on the extensive research and testing that has propelled us from a spin-out of Imperial College London to a company focused on improving clinical practice and patients’ lives through near-to-patient, blood-to-result rapid diagnostics.”
For more information, visit DNAe Group.
