Israeli medical laboratory systems and networking solutions company BATM (LSE: BVC; TASE: BVC) has announced a collaboration with Israeli in-vitro rapid diagnostics company Novamed Ltd for the joint development and marketing of a Covid-19 rapid testing kit for home use.
The new kit, which allows people to test a sputum sample at home and receive results within a few minutes, is for the identification of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). The companies plan to complete the kit's development in 3-4 months, and following receipt of CE certification, the kits will be available for sale first in Israel and then globally.
BATM also reports that it is commencing shipment of its new diagnostic kit for Covid-19 that was developed by Adaltis for use by medical facilities. The initial customers are European, with delivery to Italy being the current focus. The Group is preparing to ramp up production by the end of next week to meet existing orders and anticipated demand. All clinical testing to date has demonstrated the excellent performance of this kit, which provides results in under one hour on COVID-19 and other variants of coronavirus using real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction), a molecular biology diagnostic lab technique.
BATM CEO Dr. Zvi Marom said, "This is another step forward in our strategy to provide effective solutions for tackling infectious diseases. The Covid-19 outbreak has demonstrated the huge challenges that are posed by such diseases and the importance of having a comprehensive response covering rapid diagnosis and treatment. Alongside our Covid-19 diagnostic kit for use in medical facilities, we recognised the necessity for an easy-to-use and reliable test that can be done at home to help reduce the pressure on the already-congested hospitals and minimise patient exposure. We chose to partner with Novamed thanks to their many years of experience in developing excellent at-home diagnostic products. We believe that the combination of the capabilities of BATM and Novamed will result in a uniquely effective solution to address the current pandemic as well as other outbreaks in the future."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 19, 2020
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