Avalon GloboCare, GensKey Medical Technology to Codevelop Coronavirus Tests

Avalon GloboCare, GensKey Medical Technology to Codevelop Coronavirus Tests
 
NEW YORK ─ Avalon GloboCare said Monday that it has entered a strategic partnership with Beijing-based genetic testing services provider GensKey Medical Technology to codevelop and commercialize point-of-care antibody and PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2.
 
Both the antibody- and PCR-based tests have received the CE-IVD mark and are pending US Food and Drug Administration Emergency Use Authorization, Avalon said.
 
Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
 
The partners are codeveloping a rapid antibody-based IgG/IgM test to help identify whether a patient has developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and a PCR test to diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infection, Avalon said.
David Jin, president and CEO of Avalon, said in a statement that the firm is accelerating "the development and commercialization of next-generation point-of-care detection systems, including for clinically relevant mutation strains of SARS-CoV-2."
 
Freehold, New Jersey-based Avalon, a developer of cell-based therapeutics and in vitro diagnostics, said it intends to establish a facility in the US for the manufacture and assembly of the COVID-19 detection systems. Further, Avalon has initiated a research program to identify and detect clinically relevant SARS-CoV-2 mutations using point-of-care antibody-based assays and PCR-based genomic tests. The SARS-CoV-2 mutation bioinformatic profile may contribute to the future development of vaccines and anti-viral therapeutics, the company said.
 
Source: Genomeweb