Kromek Group PLC (LON:KMK) shares jumped in early trading Monday after it was awarded its first contract for biological threat detection from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), part of the US Department of Defense.
The contract, which begins immediately and will run for 12 months, is to develop a proof-of-concept device for a vehicle-mounted biological-threat identifier.
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The contract carries a value of US$1.99mln for the period and could potentially be extended to a multi-year contract to develop a fully deployable system.
Detection technology specialist Kromek said the new system would reduce the detection and pathogen identification time compared to current bio-threat detection systems.
The complete system is also aiming to extend the SIGMA network for biological threats as part of DARPA’s new SIGMA+ initiative.
Dr Arnab Basu, chief executive of Kromek, said the new contract expanded the firm’s relationship with the agency as well as broadening its own expertise into bio-threat detection.
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The contract follows a previous win with DARPA in March when Kromek was awarded an extension of its high-volume production contract for its D3S nuclear detection devices.
Shares were up 3.9% at 26.5p.
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