{"id":383865,"date":"2020-11-18T08:03:20","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T13:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/?p=383865"},"modified":"2020-11-18T08:03:20","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T13:03:20","slug":"summerbio-launches-high-volume-affordable-molecular-test-to-detect-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/summerbio-launches-high-volume-affordable-molecular-test-to-detect-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"SummerBio Launches High-Volume, Affordable Molecular Test to Detect COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n – SummerBio streamlined and automated the entire process of high-quality RT-PCR testing to reduce cost and massively increase test volumes to meet the needs of the pandemic –<\/em>
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\n – Comprehensive testing programs at UCLA and Los Angeles Unified School District include SummerBio\u2019s COVID-19 test –<\/em>\n <\/p>\n

\n – $7.3 million equity financing included Intel Capital, Capricorn Investment Group, 8VC and Toyota AI Ventures –<\/em>\n <\/p>\n

MENLO PARK, Calif., Nov. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SummerBio LLC, a diagnostic company providing affordable, rapid, high-volume COVID-19 testing, today announced it has partnered with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles Unified) to support comprehensive SARS-CoV-2 testing. The SummerBio SARS-CoV-2 Test is easily administered by a healthcare professional using a gentle nasal swab, and individual results are usually ready within 24 hours of collection and automatically sent to customers in real-time. SummerBio\u2019s test is a high sensitivity real-time RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) assay that is conducted in its CLIA-certified laboratory.<\/p>\n

By the end of 2020, SummerBio plans to increase the testing capacity of its COVID-19 testing mega-lab to reach approximately 100,000 tests per day. Currently, the state of California is processing in aggregate approximately 145,000 RT-PCR COVID-19 tests per day1<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

SummerBio\u2019s unique approach to detecting COVID-19 includes robotics and automated, high-throughput liquid handling systems that have reduced process inefficiencies and supply bottlenecks resulting in rapid turnaround time and significantly lower cost per test compared to conventional RT-PCR testing platforms.<\/p>\n

The Company also announced that it has raised $7.3 million in an equity financing round from investors including Intel Capital, Capricorn Investment Group, 8VC, Toyota AI Ventures, Joby Trust, Dayton Family Enterprises, and Sciarra Management Trust. Srini Ananth, Investment Director at Intel Capital, and Ajit Singh, Partner at Artiman Ventures, have joined the SummerBio board.<\/p>\n

SummerBio\u2019s CEO, Guido Baechler, who spent two decades with Roche Molecular Diagnostics, said, \u201cBroad and rapid testing for COVID-19 is absolutely critical for everyone to more safely return to school, work and a more normal life. Our goal is to provide reliable and rapid COVID-19 testing, and to do so at unprecedented affordability.\u201d<\/p>\n

SummerBio is conducting COVID-19 testing for UCLA, which has the largest undergraduate enrollment in the UC system, and Los Angeles Unified, the country\u2019s second largest school district. Summer Bio was selected as Los Angeles Unified\u2019s testing partner during a selection process that included evaluating 22 various companies. In a New England Journal of Medicine<\/em>article<\/a>2<\/sup>, Los Angeles Unified\u2019s COVID-19 testing program was referred to as \u201cnotable\u201d in ambition and uniqueness compared to most school districts whose reopening plans have not included large-scale testing.<\/p>\n

\u201cSummerBio\u2019s COVID-19 test is a key pillar in our plan to create a new standard of safety in public education. They are able to provide us with a high number of tests and we get results back overnight to determine whether students and teachers may return to school the very next morning. To date, SummerBio has processed more than 130,000 tests and provided results on time,\u201d said Austin Beutner, Superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District.<\/p>\n

\u201cSummerBio is advancing low cost, high-volume RT-PCR testing for COVID-19 and has streamlined the entire process, making it easier and faster for people to obtain results,\u201d said Nick Washburn, Senior Managing Director at Intel Capital. \u201cSummerBio\u2019s team has worked at an outstanding pace these past few months to help solve a crucial testing problem. Intel Capital is proud to work with a team that has made such progress to accelerate the speed and quantity of tests.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baechler added, \u201cWe have a team of molecular biologists, laboratory scientists, software and automation engineers, and public health experts from across the laboratory diagnostics industry to uniquely design a streamlined testing process that adds automation at almost every stage while using an extremely precise assay\u2014the result is an affordable gold-standard RT-PCR testing solution for COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n About the SummerBio SARS-CoV<\/strong>
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\n 2 Testing Solution<\/strong>
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Conducted in its CLIA-certified laboratory, SummerBio\u2019s COVID-19 test is based on a RT-PCR assay developed by an expert team at Columbia University. Using this highly-sensitive assay, SummerBio created an end-to-end COVID-19 testing system that uses robotics and automated liquid handling to significantly decrease both turnaround time and costs compared to traditional testing solutions. In the Company\u2019s studies of clinical samples, the SummerBio SARS-CoV-2 Test has shown 100% (93.28-100.00%, 95% CI) diagnostic sensitivity and 100% (96.19-100.00%, 95% CI) diagnostic specificity. Key steps to SummerBio\u2019s approach include:<\/p>\n