News
Testing Milestone: GeneCapture Validates Lab-Free 'Sample to Prescription' Infectious Disease Protocol in 2 Hours Instead of 3 Days
March 25, 2026
This week, GeneCapture demonstrated its portable, lab-free diagnostic platform to local clinicians and physicians, validating a workflow that moves from raw sample to prescription guidance in just 2 hours, with a 98% match to gold-standard hospital results. The platform requires no laboratory, running instead on a small disposable cartridge and a compact instrument that delivers results to a mobile device.
The technology identifies the right antibiotic by testing it directly against the patient's own pathogen, combining sequence-based probes, biochemical reactions, and optical cytometry in a process that can detect up to 200 pathogens. The current study focused on urinary tract infections, a condition that can escalate rapidly without prompt and accurate treatment.
GeneCapture has completed the FDA pre-submission process and is now preparing for clinical trials. Read the full press release here.
Market Demand: Pentagon Invests Millions to Identify Pathogen X
March 7, 2024
Military researchers call it Pathogen X, a placeholder name for the unknown pathogen that will trigger the next pandemic.
Rapidly diagnosing and categorizing Pathogen X is one of the use cases officials at the Pentagon's Chemical and Biological Defense Program reportedly see for GeneCapture, a developmental technology that can diagnose infections and pathogen families within an hour for about $20 per test — compared with 72 hours and around $160 for more conventional broad-edged testing. Read the full article in Military Times here.
Funding Secured: $2.5 Million DoD Contract
March 15, 2024
GeneCapture has been awarded $2.5 million from the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency to advance rapid portable pathogen detection for warfighters and civilians in remote, austere environments. The contract includes the development of a Pathogen X solution, enabling the identification of an unknown pathogen's viral family within an hour so countermeasures can begin immediately. The CAPTURE Platform can also deliver antibiotic susceptibility results in another one to two hours, on devices that require no refrigeration or cold chain logistics.
For a PDF press release, click here.
Funding Secured: $1 Million DoD Contract
May 30, 2023
GeneCapture has received a $1 million contract, funded by the U.S. Army and managed by the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC), to add invasive fungal pathogen detection to its CAPTURE platform. Scientists are developing probes targeting fourteen of the most common fungal pathogens, including Aspergillus, Mucor, and Fusarium, to expand a diagnostic panel that already identifies bacterial and viral infections.
Unlike conventional methods that require first isolating the fungus, GeneCapture's technology detects an RNA signature directly, without that step. .
Read the full press release here.
Collaboration: GeneCapture and Auburn University Win SBIR Grant
May 2, 2023
GeneCapture has announced a collaboration with Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, backed by a matching SBIR grant from Innovate Alabama, to adapt its rapid point-of-care detection platform for animal and agricultural applications. The partnership extends GeneCapture's CAPTURE platform into veterinary and livestock settings, with initial results from animal samples expected by summer 2023.
Read the full press release here.
Award: GeneCapture Receives Nunn-Perry from the Department of Defense
April 19, 2023
The Department of Defense's Mentor-Protégé Program was built on a specific premise: that the best defense technology sometimes comes from small companies that need help scaling into the defense industrial base. The Nunn-Perry Award, named for Senator Sam Nunn and former Secretary of Defense William Perry, is the program's highest recognition.
The award recognized GeneCapture's growth as a protégé and its progress developing portable rapid diagnostics for the warfighter, progress that at this point spanned multiple DoD contracts, active FDA engagement, and a detection panel covering bacterial, viral, and fungal pathogens.
Read the full press release here.
Funding Secured: $2.1 Million DoD Contract
August 10, 2021
GeneCapture secured $2.1 million from two Defense Department agencies, bringing its total DoD funding to $5.5 million and advancing the platform from proof-of-concept into independent field testing. A $1.1 million Defense Health Agency Phase II contract funds a new disposable cartridge that reports antibiotic susceptibility directly from a wound sample in 30 to 90 minutes. A separate $1 million contract from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency targets biological threats, funding a test designed to identify multiple viral and bacterial pathogens flagged as potential biowarfare threats, with no refrigeration or grid power required.
Read the full press release [here].
Funding Secured: Defense Heath Agency SBIR Contract
December 16, 2020
GeneCapture and subcontractor Canvas Inc. were awarded a $250,000 Phase I SBIR contract from the Defense Health Agency to put that problem directly to the test. The contract funds feasibility testing of GeneCapture's rapid portable Infection Diagnostic and Antibiotic Susceptibility Test on ESKAPE pathogens, the six bacteria responsible for the vast majority of dangerous, drug-resistant wound infections in both battlefield and civilian settings.
Read the full press release [here].
Clinical Milestone: Rapid Pathogen ID Demonstration
October 16, 2020
GeneCapture demonstrated something that had never been done before: multi-pathogen identification pulled directly from an RNA sample, with no genetic modification or amplification, in about an hour. The result came from a $20 disposable cartridge capable of detecting bacterial, viral, fungal, and protozoan infections, running on a compact portable reader. The underlying technology was originally developed at UAH and licensed exclusively to GeneCapture, which had already filed 11 additional patents and begun discussions with the FDA on a path to clearance.
Read the full press release [here].
Award: GeneCapture Selected for xTechSearch Accelerator 2020
May 18, 2020
The Army's xTechSearch competition searches the country for technologies that can help modernize defense capabilities, selecting the most promising small businesses for direct mentorship, funding, and exposure to military leadership. GeneCapture was named one of ten finalists in the fourth iteration of the competition, earning a $120,000 prize, a spot in the xTechSearch Accelerator, and an invitation to demonstrate the CAPTURE platform at the AUSA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Read the article here.
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