The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in the US has contracted Vela Diagnostics to support the development of Covid-19 tests.
The $225,000 contract will enable Vela Diagnostics to carry out verification and clinical validation of the ViroKey SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Test.
A probe-based reverse transcription PCR test, the ViroKey SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Test is designed to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19.
The agreement with BARDA is expected to help the company to expedite emergency use authorisation (EUA) submission to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
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Additionally, the Covid-19 tests can be used in manual and automated workflows.
Vela Diagnostics acting CEO and chairman of the Board Sam Dajani said: “High-throughput detection of SARS-CoV-2 using our automated workflow will provide rapid and valuable information to save lives.
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“The funding from BARDA will enable Vela Diagnostics to increase the domestic and global testing capacity for Covid-19 to curb further spread of the virus.”
The automated ViroKey SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Test is carried out on a workflow featuring the Sentosa SX101 instrument with the Applied Biosystems 7500 Fast Dx Real-Time (ABI 7500 Fast Dx) PCR instrument or the Sentosa SA201 instrument.
It can process up to 48 samples in a single run.
The manual assay allows flexible sample processing and enables laboratories with existing ABI 7500 Fast Dx instruments to use the test.
BARDA director Rick Bright said: “Rapid diagnostic tests put the essential information into the hands of healthcare providers and patients to manage patient care safely and appropriately.
“Data gathered from high-throughput testing aids public health officials in making decisions about community mitigation to combat the pandemic.”
Globally, Covid-19 has affected 199 countries, while the number of confirmed cases has reached 2.4 million.
The virus has killed more than 170,000 people around the world.
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