Expanding SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing
Reaching New Heights with Next-Generation Nucleic Acid Extraction
The global scientific community has come together to make great strides in our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. While advanced therapeutics and effective vaccines are being developed as fast as possible, combating a fast-moving and deadly pandemic like COVID-19 requires fast and accurate diagnostic testing that allows for quick turnaround times and that can be done at scale.
Constraints of current testing methods
Current testing methods are limited, and while nasopharyngeal swabs are the traditional source for viral testing, saliva has recently emerged as a viable alternative sample source. There are several benefits to using saliva over nasopharyngeal swabs, especially in relation to the ease of collection. Saliva collection is non-invasive and can be self-administered, which greatly reduces exposure risk for healthcare workers. Early research is showing that saliva seems to provide greater detection sensitivity and consistency throughout the course of infection, and could be a reliable way of testing for active infection. At the moment, one of the biggest limiting factors for saliva testing is volume – existing technology like magnetic bead separation requires small aliquots which makes critical advances (like pooled saliva testing) inaccurate and costly.
Akadeum's innovative solution
Akadeum is actively working on an innovative approach to pooled saliva testing. We have expanded our microbubble platform by functionalizing our revolutionary buoyancy-activated separation technology for RNA isolation in saliva samples. We are working to create a workflow that allows for quick and easy RNA extraction in larger volume samples, creating a platform for pooled saliva testing that can be done at scale.
Latest developments in Akadeum's Next-Gen Nucleic Acid Extraction
Akadeum Life Sciences is developing novel, next-generation Nucleic Acid Extraction Microbubble technology to enable ongoing research and advanced SARS-CoV-2 detection. If you missed the live webinar, you can catch a replay on-demand to see the latest updates.
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Akadeum RNA Isolation Pooled Saliva Viral Detection
A Game-Changing Application of Microbubble Technology
RNA detection is a powerful tool to identify the presence of viruses
- Pooling saliva samples from groups of 10-20 individuals could permit simple, frequent, resource-efficient community surveillance and provide near-real-time alert to active infections.
- Routine monitoring gives facilities a system to trigger rapid, focused individual testing and contact tracing to minimize infection spread.
Akadeum Microbubble technology enables the full interrogation of large volumes for more complete and representative RNA capture with a simple process that is easily integrated into existing workflows.
Akadeum microbubbles capture up to 25x more RNA
Akadeum’s microbubble approach is successfully pushing the limit of detection lower, increasing our capacity to detect and diagnose COVID-19 positive patients.
To test whether Akadeum’s microbubbles would effectively detect and diagnose viral infection in real-world individuals (as opposed to manufactured lab samples), we obtained a small set of four saliva samples from patients who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 via nasopharyngeal swab. We then extracted the RNA from these samples using both Akadeum’s microbubbles and commercially-available magnetics kits to see whether these two technologies would confirm the NPS results in a saliva sample.
THE RESULTS
Akadeum’s microbubbles were able to confirm the positive test results in all four samples, whereas the magnetic-based isolation only confirmed one of the four positive samples.
These early results are incredibly promising, and we are continuing in the development of this product and protocol.
Partner With Akadeum
Akadeum is actively seeking channel partners to provide this pooled test capability to public, clinical, and commercial labs performing molecular viral diagnostic testing