Pat Whalen (left) in LuminUltra's lab. Image: Submitted
Biotech company LuminUltra is now authorized by Health Canada to sell and distribute its Covid-19 rapid test kits across the country.
“This new product line gives governments and businesses across Canada the tools they need to deliver a high volume of the most accurate Covid-19 test results possible in under two hours,” said Chairman and CEO Pat Whalen in a release.
“With this Health Canada authorization, we are now able to expand our efforts in the fight against COVID-19 by providing accurate and fast testing solutions for both remote locations and high-capacity mobile labs.”
The approval is for LuminUltra’s GeneCount Covid-19 RT-qPCR Assay Kits, which provides results on 16 to 96 tests “in under two hours per run,” the company said.
It includes sample collection kits, isolation reagents, the Covid-19 assay, and a range of qPCR testing devices and software for simple interpretation of the test results.
The kit’s portable, point-of-need devices are built into a carrying case that allows up to 16 tests per run to be performed where needed, while its high capacity, automated devices allow up to 96 tests per run. It can be used for both mobile and traditional brick-and-mortar laboratories.
“At this critical point in the pandemic, we have the production capacity and supplies necessary to meet the testing needs for all of Canada,” Whalen said. “Our made-in-Canada solutions give laboratories, public health authorities and businesses across the country the ability to continue to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic without being beholden to international suppliers that may not see Canada as a priority market.”
Additionally, the instruments can run multiple sample types and test targets including environmental surveillance testing of surface or wastewater samples for Covid-19. It can also be used to target common water- and food-borne pathogens like legionella, coliforms, algae, listeria, salmonella, and others.
LuminUltra has been one of the companies at the forefront of the country’s fight against Covid-19.
In April, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the company had been contracted by the federal government to provide isolation reagents for 500,000 Covid-19 tests a week to health labs across Canada.
LuminUltra then set out to hire up to 15 people and expand its facilities in Fredericton as it ramped up production of the chemicals used in those tests.
This story originally appeared on Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
