WASHINGTON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Monday it had awarded $11.4 million for developing new, quick tests for influenza to four U.S. companies. The idea is to come up with reliable, on-the-spot tests for H5N1 avian influenza, the CDC said in a statement. The companies are Sunnyvale, California based Cepheid <CPHD.O>, which got $2.4 million; San Diego-based Nanogen <NGEN.O>, which won $4.5 million; Marlborough, Massachusettes-based Iquum, which got $3.8 million and Gaithersburg, Maryland-based MesoScale which got $700,000.
