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October 15, 2021

NIH gives $8M to Guilford’s Detect to scale up COVID tests

PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Components of Guilford-based Detect's at-home test for COVID-19, which provides results in about an hour.
By Liese Klein

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded Guilford-based biotech Detect $8.1 million to scale up manufacturing of its COVID-19 test, the company announced Thursday.

Detect, founded by serial entrepreneur Jonathan Rothberg, has developed a rapid, at-home test to identify infection with COVID-19. 

The grant was awarded as part of the NIH Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) program, which announced awards totaling $77.7 million for development of 12 new rapid diagnostic tests for the virus that causes COVID-19. Emulating the TV show “Shark Tank,” companies pitched their tests to an NIH panel of technical, regulatory and business experts. 

“We are extremely grateful to have the support of the NIH RADxSM initiative to make the Detect Covid-19 Test scalable and affordable,” Rothberg said in a statement. “Our team of scientists have developed technology that brings the highest quality of laboratory testing into your home.”

Detect was the only company outside of California awarded a grant for tests that focus on detection of viral RNA. The company’s test “is anticipated to have analytical performance nearly as high as laboratory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, but in a compact, cost-effective package that is intended for point-of-care settings and home use,” the NIH said in a statement.

Detect’s test comes with a reader, nasal swab and buffer. Users can access an app to guide them through the testing process and get results in about 60 minutes. The test, which uses rapid, reverse transcriptase-loop mediated isothermal amplification technology, is currently awaiting FDA emergency use authorization.

The technology also serves as a platform for future home tests for ailments like influenza and STIs, according to Detect.

Eric Kauderer-Abrams, chief technology officer of Detect, said “This partnership will allow us to deliver highly accurate Covid-19 testing to the U.S. market sooner — fulfilling the nation’s unprecedented demand for convenient and reliable at-home testing.”

Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.

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