Update (3/23/20): As TechCrunch is reporting, the Food and Drug Administration updated its Emergency Use Authorization guidelines to bar private labs from collecting at-home samples on Saturday, so Everlywell and other startups who launched at-home COVID-19 testing programs are discontinuing them. Instead, Everlywell is distributing its tests to healthcare workers.
As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States surpasses 5,000, the race is on to make testing safer, more efficient and, ultimately, more widespread. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first commercial COVID-19 tests in the U.S, developed by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche. Local Austin companies are also joining in the fight.
Everlywell CEO Julia Cheek told the Austin Business Journal she estimates the company will be able to ship at-home coronavirus tests around the country within the next couple of weeks, eventually processing tens of thousands of kits a day.
Until now, the startup focused on teaming up with labs to offer diagnostic tests for sexually transmitted diseases, fertility and food sensitivity. However, earlier this month Everlywell announced it was offering a $1 million incentive for labs to create at-home kits to test for COVID-19 infection. The company said it is currently working with five labs.
Cheek told Business Insider that the plan is for Everlywell to connect patients to doctors, who will order the tests. Then, the company will send those kits out and the patient will ship the completed test to a lab closest to them. Cheek says the process should take about four days from collection to results, and that the company is not planning to make money off the test. In fact, Cheek told the Austin Business Journal that Everlywell will pay for testing, which can cost around $200 per kit.
Luminex, another biotech startup out of Austin, is also stepping up to the plate to improve coronavirus testing. The company announced last Friday that four independent clinical laboratories are currently deploying its Aries System, a machine that can test several different samples at once and produce results in about two hours.
“As part of our broader work to make a difference in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic, Luminex is supporting laboratories in their efforts to detect and diagnose cases of COVID-19,” Nachum Shamir, the company’s president and CEO, said in a press release. “Independent validation of LDTs on our Aries System will help labs to quickly meet the high demand for testing around the world.”
