Hememics Biotechnologies, Inc. has entered into a strategic partnership with General Graphene Corporation of Knoxville Tennessee, the culmination of a four-year collaborative effort to develop a scalable, non-clean-room process for the manufacturing of the company’s 32-plex, graphene biosensor chips. Combined with Hememics’ expertise in long-shelf-life detection biology, this partnership promises to revolutionize point-of-care diagnostics tools for pathogens and environmental toxins.
In the past nine months alone, Hememics in conjunction with General Graphene has manufactured more than 100,000 graphene biosensors. Using its patented desiccation technology for detection biology, Hememics has functionalized and tested these biosensors through numerous molecular and antigen tests to detect SEB and ricin at consistent sensitivities in the low picomolar range and get results within 5 minutes.
The 100,000+ sensor tests are part of a broader program for perfecting chip designs. “Feedback from these tests will help a great deal in furthering products targeted for human trials,” said John Warden, CEO of Hememics.
These chips are capable of detecting multiple pathogens from a single saliva or blood sample with a level of detection more than 100x more sensitive than lateral flow, a common point-of-care test format.
“We are more than delighted with the performance of our penny-sized, 32-plex graphene sensor array,” said Sri Aithal, Director of Research and Development at Hememics.
“In the highly competitive world of diagnostics, speed and cost define whole product categories. At single-digit picomolar levels of detection, five-minute test times and non-cleanroom manufacturing techniques, we broke through three significant barriers at once,” said David Ho, President and CSO of Hememics.
“Our collaboration with Hememics has been extremely positive and productive from day one. As a pure-play graphene foundry, General Graphene seeks partners who possess the application expertise necessary to commercialize graphene-based applications. Hememics has been an excellent fit for us with their vast knowledge and expertise in graphene-based biosensors,” said Greg Erickson, CEO of General Graphene.
General Graphene Corporation is a pure-play CVD graphene foundry manufacturing large-area, roll-to-roll (R2R), chemical vapor deposition (CVD) graphene. Using its proprietary roll-to-roll CVD graphene manufacturing processes, General Graphene is equipped to drive meaningful CVD graphene-based R&D at scale and accelerate the commercialization of CVD graphene materials across various markets.
Hememics uniquely uses graphene-based sensors with its patented bio preservatives to bring handheld, lab-quality testing performance to wherever needed – whether it is a farm, emergency room or battlefield. This rugged, low-cost platform consists of a portable, easy-to-use reader utilizing a single-use biochip with 32 sensors that can be individually programmed to detect molecular, antigen and antibody targets. We put a whole lab in your hand so you can make decisions when and wherever necessary – simplifying workflows with results within 5 minutes.