"With a proven platform and a China clinical trial already underway for influenza, we are uniquely positioned to rapidly bring accurate and easily deployable coronavirus testing closer to the patient and away from the central lab," said Hong Cai, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mesa Biotech, Inc. "Our technology development started at Los Alamos National Lab supported by NIH grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Western Regional Centers for Excellence in Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Disease program. Since the beginning we have focused on technology suited for emergency defense and rapid deployment for SARS, Ebola and other emerging infectious diseases. Mesa's platform was specifically designed for use outside the lab to enable rapid responses to global pandemics, such as COVID-19."
"Since coronavirus symptoms are very similar to the flu, the Accula Flu A/Flu B test can aid physicians to 'rule in or rule out' the flu," added Cai. "This combined knowledge is designed to provide health care professionals rapid, accurate results to screen, isolate, treat or dismiss potential carriers of the virus."
Currently, regional hospitals, cruise ships, airports, hotels and other locations are being overwhelmed and the requirement to send samples to a reference laboratory for testing, which takes two or more days, is not meeting timely demand. If successful, Mesa's coronavirus test may be the first molecular POC test to enable care providers to obtain laboratory-quality results in approximately 30 minutes, facilitating more immediate response to the spread of the coronavirus.