BATM Advanced said the kit, developed by its bio-medical division, will allow laboratories to detect whether a patient has the virus in approximately 25 minutes. The kit has undergone testing by several central laboratories and hospitals, and BATM said it will begin production of the kit at the company’s Adaltis facility in Rome.
The company said it is working with academic and research institutions, primarily in Europe, to make the kit affordable for large-scale production. BATM said laboratory bench tests will begin as soon as possible.
BATM’s CEO Dr. Zvi Marom tells NoCamels that the biomed firm received a sequence of the virus, and subsequently the virus itself, for testing purposes. Dr. Marom says the company already has an advanced diagnostics kit that can detect SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) “and COVID-19 is a related disease so the idea is to have the kit be able to differentiate between them.”
Dr. Marom says BATM has been in touch with colleagues in China and other countries from the beginning of the outbreak, trying to learn as much as possible about the virus to develop a diagnostic solution.
BATM said the COVID-19 diagnosis system will also be included in a suite of testing kits for travel panels developed by its subsidiary Ador Diagnostics, which is focused on the development of unique in-vitro molecular diagnostics. Ador developed a molecular biology solution called NATLab that provides rapid diagnosis of bacterial, viral or fungal infections within approximately 15-90 minutes, using DNA sampling. NATLab received its first commercial order in January.
“NATLab has 40 registered patents and tests for tropical diseases like malaria and tuberculosis, infections like streptococcus [strep throat] and sepsis, and also meningitis, so now with COVID-19 added, labs can know who has what in about 25 minutes,” Dr. Marom tells NoCamels.
“We believe that the strategy we adopted in our bio-medical division is proving to be correct, especially in light of the current COVID-19 outbreak,” Dr. Marom said earlier in a press statement. “We are able now to quickly provide diagnostic kits for any new pathogen that appears.
“Furthermore, we have already received extremely positive feedback and significant interest from several leading medical institutions that have started testing the first panel of Ador’s NATlab solution and adding COVID-19 will greatly strengthen its appeal and value,” he added.
BATM said the COVID-19 kit supports all the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations and has already received interest from customers in several countries.
Dr. Marom tells NoCamels that once the spread of the virus stops – he suggested around Passover time in April – “we will have a better idea of how to quickly diagnose for the next time.”