Quantcast
  • E-mail
  • Print
  • Comment
  • Font Size
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Discuss article

Bruker Daltonics Announces Contract Award for Phase III of the ARFCAM Program By the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Posted on: Friday, 14 September 2007, 09:00 CDT

Bruker Daltonics today announces that it has been awarded a $1.3 million follow-on Phase III contract for further research, development and testing within the Autonomous Rapid Facility Chemical Agent Monitor (ARFCAM) program by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This Phase III program is expected to last about three years during which time Bruker will continue to even further improve its ARFCAM technology with scientific innovation, engineering improvements and rigorous government testing. ARFCAM Phase III is intended to lead to the next generation fully automated and unattended chemical agent and toxic chemicals detector for government facilities and critical infrastructure by the year 2011.

Mr. Frank Thibodeau, Vice President of Bruker Daltonics NBC Corp., commented: "Bruker Daltonics has successfully completed two phases of the ARFCAM DHS program to protect government facilities from accidents or acts of terrorism using chemical weapons or toxic industrial chemicals. We are delighted to have been selected for ARFCAM Phase III, and believe that Bruker's robust and proven RAID technology, unsurpassed detection capability, and proprietary industry-leading false-alarm suppression have led to this contract award. These technological features are also built into our RAID-M handheld detector as well as our RAID-S2 shipboard chemical detection system."

Bruker Daltonics' work in ARFCAM Phases I and II has already resulted in a commercial product line, called the RAID(TM)-AFM (Automated Facilities Monitor). The RAID-AFM is for governmental customers as well as a diverse set of civilian customers, such as financial institutions, convention centers, hotels, sports venues, transportation facilities, etc., who seek to add robust, automated detection capabilities for toxic chemical and chemical agent threats to their operations.

The RAID-AFM was introduced at Pittcon 2007, and is based on the Company's successful RAID(TM) ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) technology that features excellent detection capabilities and sensitivity, combined with superior false positive rejection compared to other commercial IMS systems or other technologies. In the United States, the RAID-AFM has received a NRC Exempt License excluding it from radiation safety requirements, greatly facilitating installations and maintenance outside the government.

The RAID-AFM can already today detect and identify a broad range of chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals with short response times at IDLH (Immediate Danger to Live and Health) levels. It is designed to monitor critical infrastructure and larger buildings on a continuous 24/7 basis, without operator intervention and with minimal annual service requirements. The RAID-AFM represents state-of-the-art technology to protect key facilities from chemical accidents or potential terrorist attacks using weapons of mass destruction. This new stationary detector meets the evolving demand for a small, affordable instrument that is compatible with other typical building infrastructure, along with web-based diagnostics and control capabilities. The fixed-site autonomous RAID-AFM is complemented by Bruker's handheld RAID-M chemical detectors for facility walk-throughs and problem localization.

In May 2007, at the 9th International CBW Protection Symposium in Gothenburg, Sweden, Bruker introduced two options to its product line:

-- The RAID-AFM is available optionally as a bi-functional fully integrated NC (nuclear & chemical) system that can also detect radiological and nuclear threats, including potential attacks using so-called dirty bombs (conventional explosives with radioactive material), in addition to TIC and CWA chemical detection. This combined NC-capability makes the RAID-AFM unique and particularly convenient for many installations.

-- The RAID-AFM is offered also with an optional non-radioactive ionization source. In many countries including the U.S., the RAID-AFM with its standard very low activity ion source is exempt from radiation safety requirements and requires no registration, record keeping or special disposal. In other countries, even the standard very low activity source does require additional administrative steps, and a non-radioactive source is more convenient.

ABOUT BRUKER BIOSCIENCES (NASDAQ: BRKR)

Bruker BioSciences Corporation, headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts, is the publicly traded parent company of Bruker AXS Inc., Bruker Daltonics Inc. and Bruker Optics Inc. Bruker Daltonics provides a broad range of field analytical systems for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) detection. For more information, please visit www.bruker-biosciences.com

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT

Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on current expectations, but are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. The factors that could cause actual future results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to our reorganization strategies, risks related to the integration of businesses we have acquired or may acquire in the future, technological approaches, product development, market acceptance, cost and pricing of our products, changes in governmental regulations, capital spending and government funding policies, FDA and other regulatory approvals to the extent applicable, competition, the intellectual property of others, patent protection and litigation. These and other factors are identified and described in more detail in our filings with the SEC, including, without limitation, our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, our most recent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our current reports on Form 8-K. We disclaim any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements other than as required by law.


Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category


Related Articles



Rating: 2.5 / 5 (6 votes)
Rate this article:
1/52/53/54/55/5

User Comments (0)

Comment on this article

Your Name
Text from the image
Comment
max 1200 chars
* All fields are required