Smiths Detection has opened a biolab at its center of excellence in Hemel Hempstead, U.K. The new lab will complement the research capabilities of the company’s Baltimore, Maryland site, in developing next generation biological threat detection capabilities primarily for its BioFlash Biological Identifier.
Smiths Detection’s BioFlash is a desktop biothreat detection system that uses CANARY® technology (a cell-based biosensor) in combination with proprietary aerosol-collection techniques to rapidly identify biothreat agents from an air sample. Already the BioFlash is capable of detecting biothreats such as anthrax, ricin, botulinum toxin, black plague, tularemia, smallpox, and SARS-CoV-2. The Hemel Hempstead lab will work alongside colleagues in the U.S. to develop new detection capabilities for known threats and be able to better respond to emergence of yet known threats.
The BioFlash received a CE marking in October opening the way for the product to be sold in the EU. Recently, BioFlash was used at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to test high-security areas for the presence of SAR-CoV-2, with the U.K. biolab manufacturing and supplying the necessary BioDiscs throughout the Games.