15-minute COVID-19 Test Enables Highly Sensitive PCR Testing at POC Outside Laboratory Environment

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 26 Apr 2021

A new SARS-CoV-2 test allows highly sensitive PCR testing to take place at the point-of-care and outside the traditional laboratory environment.

Minute Molecular Diagnostics, Inc. (Evanston, IL, USA) has been awarded a USD 21.3 million contract from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADxSM) initiative for the company’s DASH (Diagnostic Analyzer for Specific Hybridization) point-of-care PCR system for COVID-19 testing. The contract supports further development of Minute Molecular’s DASH SARS-CoV-2 test.

Image: A nasal swab being processed by DASH at a sample collection site (Photo courtesy of Business Wire)

The DASH system is the result of collaboration between Northwestern University’s Center for Innovation in Global Health Technologies (CIGHT) and Minute Molecular. The DASH system is an innovative point-of-care PCR testing system that is able to provide central lab precision in approximately 15 minutes. The DASH platform is adaptable to other infectious viral and bacterial agents (Flu A/B, RSV, HIV, STDs, MRSA, Cdiff.), sample types (nasal swab, saliva, whole blood, etc.), and can also quantitatively report a viral load (HIV). The RADx Tech contract will enable the development and manufacturing scale up of a highly sensitive COVID-19 detection system.

“We are pleased to receive support from NIH through the RADx initiative to scale our innovative technology during this critical time of need,” said Dr. David Kelso, co-founder, President, and CEO of Minute Molecular Diagnostics. “DASH performs point-of-care PCR testing for COVID-19 in approximately 15 minutes, providing an important, new tool for safely re-opening K-12 schools, universities, and workplaces.”

“DASH enables non-laboratory personnel to insert a nasal swab specimen directly into our test cartridge and then load the cartridge into the DASH instrument, providing an accurate result in about 15 minutes,” said Dr. Sally McFall, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Minute Molecular. “The simplicity of the DASH test allows PCR testing to go where antigen tests go now.”

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Minute Molecular Diagnostics, Inc.