A battery-powered reader automatically quantifies and analyzes COVID-19 test strips and then transmits the test results electronically to doctors, hospitals, and state and federal agencies.

GattaCo (Murrieta CA, USA) and iAssay (San Diego, CA, USA) have entered into a partnership to integrate and optimize their products in an effort to provide enhanced rapid serology testing, including COVID-19 antibody testing and electronic test result transmission to federal and state agencies via the cloud at the point of care.

GattaCo has developed and patented rapid and automatic plasma separation tools, called the A-PON and pediatric-focused mini-PON Kits. The PON Kits (PON referring to plasma at the point of need) separate antibody-rich plasma from whole blood collected from a finger-stick without the need for a centrifuge or venous blood-draw. The plasma generated by the PON Kits can transform a normally Yes or No antibody test to a semi-quantitative test and enable more sensitive quantitative detection by the iAssay CyberReader device, reducing false positives and negatives.

iAssay’s CyberReader automatically quantifies and analyzes COVID-19 test strips, then transmits the test results electronically to doctors, hospitals, and state and federal agencies. When used as directed, PON derived plasma can be obtained in under three minutes, in any setting, including at a doctor’s office, at home, at screening centers, or anywhere finger-stick blood can be collected. The A-PON and mini-PON Kits require no power, support equipment or skill on the part of the user, eliminating the need for the phlebotomist, lab tech and centrifuge infrastructure that is otherwise required to obtain plasma. The battery-powered iAssay CyberReader provides a quick and portable method for analyzing strips incubated with PON produced plasma and storing test results in the Cloud.

“Helping to alleviate the COVID-19 testing bottleneck with improved test accuracy, eliminating the need for centrifugation of blood samples and reducing clinical lab restrictions will improve patient care and at the same time, provide public health agencies and other vested parties relevant data to support informed decision making and improved management of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Dr. Michael McNeely, President and CEO of GattaCo.

“It’s a natural fit for both companies,” said Lonnie Adelman, CEO & Founder at iAssay. “iAssay provides a sensitive and accurate Reader device and Cloud connectivity, and GattaCo provides the microfluidics that optimize the strip chemical reactions. Together, we are working on improving the full system performance by using our combined strengths in engineering and biotechnological medical device design.”

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