A*STAR and Veredus design First Lab-on-Chip

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and Veredus Laboratories have announced the launch of biochip "VereTrop", in the molecular diagnostics market that can identify 13 different major tropical diseases from a single blood sample.

This lab-on-chip diagnostic kit is designed to transform the quality and efficiency of testing tropical infectious diseases.

Lisa F.P. Ng, Associate Professor from A*STAR’s Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), said, "Tropical diseases often reflect common symptoms like fever, and may not be accurately diagnosed early by doctors. This portable test kit is a rapid and reliable method to accurately test for multiple pathogenic targets from just one blood sample in a matter of hours."

Dr Rosemary Tan, CEO, Veredus Laboratories, said, "Veredus and A*STAR have worked on several collaborative projects dating back to 2004. This latest project on VereTrop Lab-on-Chip has combined the strengths and expertise of A*STAR, Veredus and STMicroelectronics to create a powerful multiplexed molecular product that can rapidly detect and differentiate symptomatically similar tropical infectious diseases and enable timely proper treatment."

This technology opens new possibilities for the accurate and rapid diagnostic of important infectious diseases that remain the main causes of illness in the tropics.

This biochip which operates on STMicroelectronics’ Lab-on-Chip platform, was initiated between ETPL, the technology transfer arm of A*STAR and Veredus in 2009.