BillionToOne COVID-19 Test with 30X Higher Throughput Could Unlock Millions of Daily Testing Capacity Worldwide

Billiontoone, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA, USA), a precision diagnostics company, has developed a highly accurate and cost-effective novel COVID-19 test protocol, unlocking more than one million testing capacity per day in the US alone.

Using the patent-pending qSanger spike-in and proprietary machine learning algorithms, BillionToOne’s COVID-19 assay takes advantage of the 30X higher throughput Sanger sequencing capacity (1,536 samples on qSanger at a time vs. 48 samples on qPCR at a time). qSanger technology unlocks each Sanger instrument to automatically perform 3,840 tests per day, and there are hundreds of instruments available from the Human Genome Project alone, unlocking millions of testing capacity per day.

The BillionToOne COVID-19 test uses different sets of instruments and chemicals from existing COVID-19 tests, enabling labs to unlock a new set of unused capacity. BillionToOne sequences the virus' genome - making the test extremely sensitive and specific, on par or better than other COVID-19 tests available. Additionally, the test is easily adoptable at any labs with Sanger Sequencers, with minimum training.

Test reagents will be available in two weeks, pending manufacturing of kits and EUA from the FDA. International laboratories without EUA requirements can start testing immediately by using their own reagents and the BillionToOne's bioinformatics pipeline.

"I'm extremely grateful to the hard work and dedication of the BillionToOne team to get this vital resource developed so quickly," said Dr. Oguzhan Atay, the CEO of BillionToOne. "Our mission here at BillionToOne is to remove the fear of the unknown by making powerful molecular diagnostics available to all. We believe our COVID-19 test can contribute greatly in removing the unknowns from the COVID-19 crisis response."

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