BOULDER, Aug. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Darwin Biosciences, a molecular diagnostics company improving the way the world manages infectious disease, today announced an exclusive license to technology that will facilitate commercialization of Darwin's point-of-need testing service. CoVLab is an end-to-end screening solution to detect pathogens associated with COVID-19 in individuals, including those who are asymptomatic or presymptomatic. The agreement includes technology associated with Darwin’s future products, beginning with SickStick.
“Understanding the body’s early immune response to infection is vitally important because, as we all know with the novel coronavirus, by the time you’re showing symptoms, it’s too late — you’ve likely already spread the disease to other people,” said Nicholas Meyerson, CEO of Darwin Biosciences and a scientist in the department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB) at CU Boulder. “CoVLab offers the fastest turnaround time available by eliminating the need for off-site or third-party labs. We offer comfortable, fast, affordable and accurate screenings to help people confidently return to work, school or other activities.”
All of the technology licensed by Darwin Biosciences was developed in the laboratory of Dr. Sara Sawyer, a professor in the MCDB department at CU Boulder and co-founder of Darwin Biosciences. CoVLab’s portable lab eliminates the delays associated with complex laboratory tests by providing all of the equipment necessary to:
- Collect saliva samples from individuals.
- Inactivate those samples (eliminating the need for a biosafety cabinet).
- Analyze samples for the presence of a SARS-CoV-2 genome using an isothermal amplification reaction with a colorimetric readout.
CoVLab Benefits:
- Saliva-Based — CoVLab testing is noninvasive and highly tolerable when compared to the viral tests that obtain samples, for example, by way of a nasopharyngeal swab.
- Point of Need — CoVLab provides a scalable portable lab service to easily collect and inactivate self-collected saliva samples without the need for complex laboratory equipment.
- Rapid, Same-Day Results — CoVLab’s quick and simple screening service assists in reducing the spread of COVID-19 by informing individuals before they exhibit symptoms.
“We’re just scratching the surface of how our technology will aid in infectious disease management,” said Rick Whitcomb, COO of Darwin Biosciences. “Our goal is to help slow the local transmission of disease during the current pandemic and to continue to transform the way infectious disease is managed in the future with our follow-on products.”
For more information about Darwin Biosciences or CoVLab, please visit https://darwin.bio/.
About Darwin Biosciences
Darwin Biosciences is improving the way the world manages infectious disease. Through the development of CoVLab, Darwin Biosciences offers an end-to-end screening solution to detect pathogens associated with COVID-19 in asymptomatic or presymptomatic individuals. The portable lab service enables rapid collection and analysis of saliva in a highly tolerable, noninvasive and cost-effective manner. CoVLab’s saliva-based screenings, developed at the University of Colorado Boulder, are conducted at the point of need and deliver rapid, same-day results — typically in less than two hours — potentially stemming the spread of disease and allowing people to congregate with confidence. Darwin Biosciences is based in Boulder, Colorado. For more information about Darwin Biosciences or CoVLab, please visit https://darwin.bio/.