MicroGen DX is using its lab to help the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.
MicroGen DX is using its lab to help the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. With many labs at capacity and test turn-around times slowing down, MicroGenDX has validated its own Lab Developed CORONAVIRUS SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 Test and is ready to assist.
The company submitted test validations to the FDA under the Emergency Use Authorization. MicroGenDx is the only lab in Orlando that can perform saliva and sputum tests to confirm COVID-19.
Nasal swab collection and transport materials are in high demand but in low supply causing many delays for tens of thousands of patients to even get tested for COVID-19. MicroGenDX has foreseen this bottleneck and has been validated for nasal swabs as well as sputum and saliva testing for SARS-CoV-2. Sputum, which is defined as saliva and mucus, has been shown to deliver better results and is far less invasive than swab collection methods.
MicroGen DX’s lab has the capacity to process 10,000 samples per day, or 1,000 samples per hour.
“This is what we do all the time,” said MicroGen DX owner and CEO Rick Martin in an interview with News 96.5 WDBO.
We have been working tirelessly to develop our own tests – it’s not going to be dependent on a lot of these other kits that are being sent out now.
Rick Martin, owner and CEO of MicroGen DX
Many of these kits are unusable because of a massive shortage in the supplies to collect samples.
The containers used for a saliva and sputum test are more readily available than nasal swab testing. This test also allows healthcare providers to have patients take the test at home and mail in samples to the lab, avoiding potentially contaminating offices and other medical centers.
The company, based in Lake Nona’s Medical City, has also worked with NASA on studies related to the Mars Rover and International Space Station as well as the FDA Biofilm Division. MicroGenDX is a CLIA/CAP certified high complexity lab with many years of experience designing molecular based laboratory developed tests (LDTs) and has performed over 400,000 DNA tests over the last 12 years.
