A County Durham technology firm is celebrating a contract that could be worth more than $5m and which extends its relationship with US defence authorities.
Kromek, which develops and supplies detection technologies, has been awarded an extension to its contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an agency of the US Department of Defense, to detect and identify pathogens in an urban environment.
The new contract follows the completion of the initial phase of a contract awarded by DARPA in December 2018 to develop a vehicle-mounted biological-threat identifier.
The contract, which is worth up to $5.2m, runs until June 2021 and will see Kromek working on bio-surveillance systems to detect airborne pathogents. The detection systems are likely to be used in areas of high public presence, such as hospitals and airports.
Kromek CEO Dr Arnab Basu said: “We are delighted to be awarded this extension by DARPA.
“The technology developed under this program is capable of sample collection to comprehensive analysis of threats present in air in an autonomous manner. By sequencing the genetic code, the device can not only identify threat pathogens, but also be used to identify the particular strain to aid triage and treatment selection, in addition to being able to track mutations of the pathogen.
“As the system can be vehicle mounted or placed in high footfall areas such as hospitals and airports, the location where the sample is collected can be mapped to a GPS position. The transfer of data to a central server allows a picture of pathogen levels across a city to be built up enabling decision makers to react rapidly to any evolving pathogenic threat.”
Kromek, which is the largest company on the NETPark science park in Sedgefield, was formed in 2003 as a spin-out from Durham University, originally called Durham Scientific Crystals.
The company develops and produces X-ray and gamma-ray imaging and radiation detection products for the medical, security and nuclear markets, and has sites in California and Pennsylvania as well as its County Durham HQ.
Kromek, which won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in April, last year reported its highest ever revenue figures but saw losses widen over the same period.
