FLC | RADx awards $21M to Minute Molecular for point-of-care PCR COVID-19 testing

RADx awards $21M to Minute Molecular for point-of-care PCR COVID-19 testing

April 23, 2021

Minute Molecular Diagnostics, Inc., on April 22 announced it has been awarded a $21.3 million contract from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative for a point-of-care PCR COVID-19 testing system developed in collaboration with Northwestern University.

The contract supports further development of the company’s DASH (Diagnostic Analyzer for Specific Hybridization) SARS-CoV-2 test, which allows highly sensitive PCR testing to take place at the point of care, and outside the traditional laboratory environment.

“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.”

The DASH system is the result of collaboration between Northwestern University’s Center for Innovation in Global Health Technologies (CIGHT) and Minute Molecular. The RADx Tech contract will enable the development and manufacturing scale up of a highly sensitive COVID-19 detection system.

Distribution of COVID-19 diagnostics, including DASH, in the U.S. are contingent upon receipt of Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This project has been funded in part by the NIH Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative with federal funds from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), part of the National Institutes of Health. The current contract is funded from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Initial support was provided by the NIH Point-of-Care Technology Research Network (POCTRN), the Johns Hopkins Center for STD Point-of-Care Tests (JHU POCT), the Center for Innovation in Point-of-Care Technology for HIV/AIDS at Northwestern University (C-THAN), the Northwestern University McCormick Catalyst Award, and Minute Molecular Investors. Minute Molecular acknowledges the essential assistance of the NIH in making Point-of-Care PCR COVID-19 testing an effective reality.