Main point: Anavasi Diagnostics, a start-up company based in Woodinville, Washington, announced on Tuesday that it will receive US $14 million 900 thousand from the National Institutes of health to promote the commercialization of its fast COVID-19 test. The startup also raised $6 million from individual investors.
The product: according to the company, its AscencioDx COVID-19 -19 detection system is comparable to the gold standard PCR test result, and is cheaper and faster, and takes only 30 minutes. The system uses a reusable detector, which can be used for more than 3000 one-time tests. “This is a once and for all process, just like a PCR laboratory in your palm,” Nelson Patterson, senior CEO of several medical device companies, said in a statement. The trial is currently in clinical trials.
Technique: PCR detection requires repeated heating and cooling cycles, usually requiring laboratory treatment. Anavasi’s COVID-19 -19 test uses a proprietary version of loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), a method to detect viral RNA. The lamp operates at a single threshold temperature to produce fast results. The technology can also be used to detect other viruses and bacteria.
Founders: the three founders bring together expertise in science, software and product development. Barry Lutz, chief scientific officer, is an associate professor in the Department of bioengineering at the University of Washington. Robert Atkinson, the company’s director of innovation and technology, worked as a software architect at Microsoft for 20 years and is now a graduate student at Lutz laboratory. Chief engineer Minh Duong is the co-founder of simplexity, a product development company. The three founded anavasi in August last year.
Source of funding: the National Institutes of health’s new funding comes from the agency’s rapid acceleration diagnostic plan, which supports COVID-19 -19 detection technology and start-ups. The cash is based on the US $350 thousand fund before the National Institutes of health, which enabled the company to turn from HIV testing to COVID-19 detection last year. Anavasi also raised $1.6 million from friends, family and founders last October and $1 million in January. According to a spokesman, a new round of US $6 million promissory note convertible bonds ended in October.
Future: anavasi hopes to apply for emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “in the near future”. The initial application will be used by licensed medical professionals at the point of care, but the company will also explore future approval for use at home. The 45 employee start-up aims to about double the number of employees in the next four months.