Millions of 3D-Printed Nasopharyngeal Swabs for COVID-19 Testing to Reach Healthcare Providers

In response to the severe shortage of testing supplies for widespread COVID-19 testing of millions of people, millions of 3D-printed nasal swabs are expected to soon reach health workers.

Stratasys, Inc. (Eden Prairie, MN, USA) and Origin (San Francisco, CA, USA) have signed an agreement in which Stratasys will market and promote Origin 3D-printed nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs to healthcare providers and other testing centers in the US.

Widespread testing of millions of people is currently hampered by a shortage of testing supplies. Each Origin One 3D printer has the ability to produce batches of 1,500 Origin NP O1 Swabs at a time, multiple times daily. Origin is moving towards a streamlined process allowing the production of approximately 190,000 per day, or 1.3 million per week. Stratasys will leverage its position as a provider of 3D printing solutions to the healthcare industry to market Origin NP O1 Swabs.

Origin swabs were tested in a clinical trial with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, an academic medical center affiliated with Harvard Medical School, and performed the highest with regard to concordance to control swabs compared to two other 3D printed swabs. Each Origin NP O1 Swab is autoclavable and individually packaged.

Stratasys Americas President Rich Garrity said Stratasys is ready to help get millions of swabs to wherever they are most needed. “We have tremendous confidence in Origin’s 3D printing technology, and we’re confident in our ability to help bring them to market efficiently,” he said.

Origin CEO, Christopher Prucha said Origin is ready to scale quickly. “We believe widespread testing can help save lives and get our economy going again, and we’re confident that our Origin One technology and simple material requirements will be able to produce millions of swabs to meet the need,” he said. “We’ve been impressed by the speed with which Stratasys has been able to provide thousands of shields to healthcare systems across the country and believe they are the right partner for helping get millions of swabs where they are most needed.”

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Stratasys, Inc.
Origin