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Menon Biosensors Perfects DNA Analysis to Detect Pathogens

Before delving into all things biotechnical, I’d like to wish you the happiest of holidays. I hope 2013 was a good one — and I’ll see you in the New Year!

An interesting diagnostics company that just sprung up on my radar is Menon Biosensors Inc. — mostly because of the work it’s recently done on Yersinia pestis, the pathogen that’s believed to have caused the Black Death, one of the most devastating pandemics in human history.

Menon uses DNA analysis to detect pathogens even at the tiniest concentrations — and recently reported that it did so in more than 2,200 samples with zero false positives or negatives. That’s 100 percent accuracy. An interesting figure indeed.

In the studies conducted over a six-year period, Menon’s platform technology was able to detect the plague in water, air, blood, sputum, urine and stool samples. The company will soon present data for tuberculosis and Clostridium difficile — a pathogen that’s becoming increasingly problematic as a hospital-acquired infection.

The Yersinia pestis pathogen analysis was complete within an hour — which, in my book, could be very promising as far as hastening disease diagnosis. The company has flown under the radar for the most part, but I’d expect a coming-out party, stat.

• • •

It’s beginning to seem like telemedicine companies are a dime a dozen, but I find the overseas applications of this exciting technology the most intriguing.

Doctors in Ghana are using technology from a San Diego telemedicine company to consult with patients in remote regions of the country without having to travel from the hospital. Telmedx Inc., a startup housed in the Janssen Labs, partnered with Ghana-based Mahiri Mobile Services to outfit nurses in rural villages with wireless tablets that deliver high-quality, live medical-grade video to the doctors in Ghanian cities like Tamale and Nsawam.

“We are now addressing some of the cases that would not have come to the hospital due to a lack of money for travel or a lack of knowledge about access to our hospital,” Sophie Winful, a physician at Nsawam District Hospital in eastern Ghana, said in a statement.

• • •

Adamis Pharmaceuticals Inc. began trading on the Nasdaq on Dec. 13, pricing its $22 million secondary public offering at $5.95 per share.

Adamis (Nasdaq: ADMP) uplisted from the over-the-counter markets following a 1-to-17 reverse stock split of its common stock — releasing 3.7 million shares.

Adamis said it plans to use $7 million of the net proceeds to complete the Aug. 1 purchase of an asthma inhaler technology from 3M Co.

Adamis (OTC: ADMP) initially licensed 3M’s (NYSE: MMM) Taper Dry Powder Inhaler for $3 million. The Taper DPI can also be used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The company said it wants to use the new technology provide a branded generic alternative to the top-selling asthma medication on the market, Advair Diskus by GlaxoSmithKline PLC (NYSE: GSK).

An additional $7.2 million will be used to pay back debt that was issued in a private placement in June 2013, it said in a regulatory filing.

Adamis said the remaining proceeds will be used to fund clinical trials and for general corporate purposes, as well as fund the filing and launch of its epinephrine injection — a generic version of the EpiPen.

• • •

A Mexican medical diagnostics company has acquired the assets of Carlsbad-based Naviscan Corp., but said it plans to continue to develop and manufacture its molecular imaging products locally.

Compañía Mexicana de Radiología CGR, S.A. de C.V., a maker of X-ray equipment based in Queretaro, Mexico, did not disclose financial terms of the Naviscan deal.

“We are committed to retaining the high level of product quality and customer service established by Naviscan,” CMR Director General Tonatiuh Monroy said in a prepared statement.

The Carlsbad company will be renamed CMR Naviscan Corp., according to its website, and will continue to develop its high-resolution molecular imaging technology — such as a mammography scanner that is more accurate than traditional X-ray scanners.

Naviscan was founded in 1995 in Maryland and moved its operations to Carlsbad in 2005. It was funded by Sanderling Ventures, a firm with operations in San Diego and San Mateo.

Send news about locally based health care organizations, biotech and clean tech to Meghana Keshavan at mkeshavan@sdbj.com. She can be reached at 858-277-6359.

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