Pathogen Detection and Vaccine Candidates Contribute in Fight Against Ongoing Pandemic - Seite 2

What's more, the platform's ability to screen for multiple pathogens at once represents a remarkable improvement over competing, "singleplex" diagnostic tools. The LX Analyzer can screen for up to 27 different pathogens in a single sample, greatly reducing the time necessary to identify the presence of antibiotic resistance and thereby detect the pathogen in a patient's body.

In addition to faster results, the multiplex component of the LX Analyzer allows the instrument to return more accurate results. Singleplex tests are more likely to return a false positive or false negative result, where the instrument detected the presence of pathogens similar to the ones being screened for. This is especially a problem with the SARS and MERS viruses. By contrast, the LX Analyzer can rule out the presence of other infectious diseases, leading to a more accurate result.

LexaGene Holdings Inc has already filed a patent application to the US Patent and Trademark Office to protect the expanded testing capabilities of the LX Analyzer as it applies to COVID-19 and plans to launch the instrument in the third quarter of 2020. In addition, the company has also submitted its plan to the FDA for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for detecting the virus. The company expects to complete the necessary studies for this milestone in the near future.

Concurrent Pathogen Detection Instruments and Vaccine Candidates

Joining LexaGene Holdings Inc (LXG.V) (LXXGF.QB) in its effort to quickly and accurately detect COVID-19, and thus limit the harm it can do, is Medmira (TSXV:MIR). To this end, Medmira recently signed a deal with Webb Diagnostic Technologies for that company to distribute its "Reveal" Antibody Test. This test detects antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in serum and plasma, as well as whole blood. It also detects all human immunoglobulins, as opposed to just IgM/IgG, which most competing tests screen for, meaning it can identify previous and present infections in patients.

However, if detecting the virus is the first step to combating the outbreak, the final step is developing a treatment. Several companies are currently advancing potential vaccines that could be commercially available within the next year.

For example, Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) is developing Remdesivir as an investigational antiviral treatment. Remdesivir has been identified as having the potential to impact SARS-CoV-2 in lab results, though considerably more testing is needed to determine if it is both safe and effective. Nevertheless, Gilead recently signed a licensing agreement with five generic drugmakers to make Remdesivir for 127 countries.