DELRAY BEACH, Fla., May 16, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PositiveID Corporation ("PositiveID" or "Company") (OTCBB:PSID), an emerging growth company and developer of advanced technologies for diabetes management as well as sophisticated airborne bio-threat detection systems for America's homeland defense, today announced it has made significant progress in testing its M-BAND, Microfluidics-based Bioagent Autonomous Networked Detector, in preparation for the Department of Homeland Security's $3 billion BioWatch procurement. The Company's M-BAND system detects five organisms on the CDC Select Agents List, which is a requirement for BioWatch.
M-BAND, developed under contract for the Department of Homeland Security by MFS, is an early warning system designed to detect the intentional release of aerosolized biological agents. It runs autonomously for up to 30 days between service cycles, continuously analyzing air samples, typically in high-traffic areas, for the detection of bacteria, viruses, and toxins with results in as little as three hours. Results from individual M-BAND instruments are reported via a secure wireless network in real time to give an accurate and up to date status for fielded instruments in aggregate. Designed with a high level of operational flexibility, M-BAND can be remotely set to detect for DNA-based pathogens alone, with or without either RNA-based organisms or toxins, or for all three types of pathogens simultaneously at remotely programmable intervals.
The M-BAND instrument offers a number of advantages over similar products, including decreased consumable and operating costs, a small footprint, a closed operating environment and significant flexibility of operation. M-BAND has been designed and field tested to operate continuously for 30 days unattended between scheduled services. It also operates using industry gold-standard TaqMan® PCR (polymerase chain reaction) chemistry.
In addition to the BioWatch opportunity, the Company has submitted or is in the process of submitting bids for other government contract opportunities totaling more than $16 million across six different government agencies for both its M-BAND and Dragonfly™ Rapid MDx Cartridge-based diagnostic system.
William J. Caragol, Chairman and CEO of PositiveID, said, "As we prepare for the final request for proposal for BioWatch to be released from DHS, we have continued our internal testing of M-BAND. Our system is fully functional and, we believe, one of the only technologies capable of addressing the requirements of the BioWatch procurement. Furthermore, we believe our system not only performs better than the competition but also has a lower total cost of ownership."
About PositiveID Corporation
PositiveID Corporation is an emerging growth company and developer of advanced technologies for diabetes management and rapid medical testing, as well as airborne bio-threat detection systems for America's homeland defense industry. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Microfluidic Systems, or MFS, is focused on the development of microfluidic systems for the automated preparation of and performance of biological assays in order to detect biological threats at high-value locations, as well as analyze samples in a medical environment.
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For more information on PositiveID, please visit http://www.PositiveIDCorp.com.
Statements about PositiveID's future expectations, including the likelihood that it has made significant progress in testing its M-BAND in preparation for the BioWatch procurement; the likelihood that the system detects five organisms on the CDC select agents list, which is a requirement for BioWatch; the likelihood that the M-BAND instrument offers a number of advantages over similar products, including decreased consumable and operating costs, a small footprint, a closed operating environment and significant flexibility of operation; the likelihood that the Company's M-BAND is one of the only technologies capable of addressing the requirements of the BioWatch procurement; the likelihood that M-BAND not only performs better than the competition but also has a lower total cost of ownership; and all other statements in this press release other than historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as that term is defined in the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, and PositiveID's actual results could differ materially from expected results. These risks and uncertainties include PositiveID's ability to participate in the BioWatch opportunity; the Company's ability to successfully commercialize its M-BAND and Dragonfly products; as well as certain other risks. Additional information about these and other factors that could affect the Company's business is set forth in the Company's various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those set forth in the Company's 10-K filed on March 28, 2012, and 10-Qs filed on May 13, 2011, August 15, 2011, and November 14, 2011, under the caption "Risk Factors." The Company undertakes no obligation to update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this statement or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.