Who We Are

Innovation leaders in molecular testing to combat disease.

A small, veteran-owned, family-funded One Health company developing innovative vaccines and diagnostic tools for global public health concerns.

Started in 2006 with the invention of inactivating molecular transport media for collection of respiratory samples and the stabilization of nucleic acid at ambient temperature for weeks to months, Longhorn created the product category and the predicate device at the United States Food and Drug Administration. Our expertise, through past and present team members, is creating novel technologies, generating broad intellectual property, conducting extensive studies and presenting them in peer reviewed publications and conferences, putting them up to regulatory scrutiny, and taking them through to commercialization.

As a small and focused team, we rely on outside experts in the fields of legal and regulatory affairs. We collaborate with government agencies and healthcare organizations to help surveil, diagnose, prevent and treat infectious diseases. Understanding the interconnection between people, animals, plants and their shared environments, we focus on infections in both humans and animals, such as Covid-19, African Swine Fever, RSV, avian influenza, influenza, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Monkeypox, and other pathogens.

To expand our impact at all socio-economic levels, we design highly versatile, stable products that improve the accuracy and safety of molecular testing in developed and developing countries.

Our company is based in Bethesda, MD with a vaccine research and development facility in Gaithersburg, MD.

By improving modern methods of pathogen detection and prevention, we seek to help public health officials and medical personnel achieve optimal medical outcomes in every part of the world.

  • A track record of some of the largest breakthroughs in molecular testing.

    Take a walk through the moments that helped shape Longhorn.

  • 2006

    Longhorn is founded by Jeff and Gerald Fischer, at a time when there was serious concern about H5N1, an influenza strain circulating in China.

    Understanding how H5N1 could bring about a pandemic similar to the 1918 flu, they investigated novel diagnostic and vaccine products with two primary goals:

    1. Improving the safety and sensitivity of molecular testing for influenza

    2. Preventing an influenza pandemic through a robust and durable universal influenza vaccine

  • 2010

    Longhorn receives Emergency Use Authorization of its molecular detection kit for H1N1(09) influenza. It is one of only 18 tests that was approved for the H1N1(09) pandemic and the sole kit with a molecular transport media.

  • 2018

    Longhorn receives FDA Clearance through the De Novo pathway for its flagship product, PrimeStore MTM, creating a new class of device: Microbial Nucleic Acid Storage and Stabilization Devices.

  • 2020

    Longhorn is contacted by the FDA and the HHS Covid-19 diagnostic team to rapidly expand production of PrimeStore MTM in response to the dire shortage of Covid-19 sample collection kits in the U.S. In the span of months, Longhorn increases production of PrimeStore MTM from 10s of thousands of units each year pre-pandemic, to over 50 million units a year.

  • 2021

    Longhorn produces over 60 million PrimeStore MTM devices, which are provided to the U.S. and foreign governments, hospital groups, and laboratories to ensure adequate, high quality sample collection around the world.

  • 2022

    Longhorn expands its diagnostic division towards testing supplies for African Swine Fever, Avian Influenza, and a wide range of pathogens/sample types – with the goal of preventing the spread of contagious viruses, whether they impact livestock and poultry or humans.

    Longhorn begins increasing research and development outside of diagnostic products with vaccines that are highly affordable, scalable, adaptable and affordable.

Our Partners

A network of top diagnostic institutions.

Our success lies in our ability to maximize capacity and outsource key functions. As a small, agile team, we have become highly adept at network-building and managing strong business relationships. We now collaborate with some of the most prestigious players in healthcare and agriculture.

Specializing in the industry’s preferred testing method: molecular testing.

Testing for pathogens and their anti-microbial resistance has been rapidly transitioning from time-consuming live culture to molecular testing. Live culture often requires complex biological containment facilities and can take days to weeks. Molecular testing is significantly faster, highly sensitive, and once the sample is properly inactivated, can be done in a variety of laboratory or healthcare settings.

Our products are optimized for molecular testing at every stage, starting at the sample collection site. We strive to minimize the cold chain needed, thus ensuring molecular diagnostics can be used throughout both the developed and developing world.

Product Portfolio

Experienced.
Nimble.
Transdisciplinary.
Strategic.

As a small, yet agile team from all backgrounds, we’ve managed to ramp up production on a large scale in an unprecedented amount time. As our business continues to grow in new directions, we’re confident in our ability to thrive in the face of chaos and keep pushing the boundaries of scientific discovery.