US-based Accumen has announced a partnership agreement with medical device company Spectrum Solutions to offer Covid-19 saliva testing kits in the US.
The company received the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emergency use authorisation (EUA) in April for its saliva testing for the diagnosis of Covid-19. The authorisation mandated saliva collection solely using Spectrum’s SDNA-1000 saliva collection device based on a trial with Rutgers University.
The SDNA-1000 delivers 100% neutralisation of the live virus, mitigating risk and the threat of unnecessary exposure. In addition, it can preserve and stabilise viral RNA transcripts for transport in extreme and varying temperatures for more than 14 days and for approximately one year after collection in ambient storage.
Furthermore, the Spectrum saliva collection kit has been designed to offer accurate and sensitive test results and reduce sample collection errors. The at-home self-collection kit also helps to reduce the labour required for collection and decrease the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Accumen Corporate Supply Chain vice-president Eric Jurinic said: “Accumen has been partnering with its clients to strengthen their laboratory supply chain for more than ten years. Early in the Covid-19 crisis, we identified supply chain gaps and began coordinating resources to meet those evolving needs.
“As the crisis continued, we were able to provide critical testing supplies like nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs, media and personal protective equipment for our clients and we later made those resources available to other health systems and laboratories across the country to help increase testing efforts.”
Accumen is currently offering full kit or saliva collection device-only orders and implementation support services. The company also offers laboratory, imaging, blood management rapid response tools and other strategic pandemic resources through the Covid-19 Resource Centre.