California-based MFSI received the award, the fourth consecutive from the DHS Science and Technology Directorate since 2003, for the production of the company's Microfluidic-Bioagent Autonomous Networked Detector. The phase 3X deal awards funding to MFSI until March 2009.

Under the award MFSI will produce the M-BAND bio-security threat detection technology for extended field trials at various locations in the United States. Officials say the DHS award is part of an initiative to improve the biological pathogens threat detection capabilities in large metropolitan areas.

"We are extremely pleased that MFSI has been selected to go forward with this key opportunity to commercialize the M-BAND system," Allen Northrup, Microfluidic Systems chief executive officer, said in a statement.

"This next level of development geared toward large scale manufacturing, deployment, and support will help ensure that critical bio-security capabilities are in place in the United States, and will allow expansion of the technology into a variety of other commercial applications."