- FluroTech Ltd. (TSXV:TEST) has partnered with Alberta BioPhotonics Inc and Albany Medical College to develop a test for COVID-19
- Through the agreement, FluroTech hopes to adapt its CompleTest platform to test for COVID-19 and related antibodies within 15 minutes
- The technology is currently used to test potency and quality in cannabis and hemp products
- However, as the research is in its early stages, there is not yet any guarantee this technological adaption can be achieved
- FluroTech Ltd. (TEST) is up 29.3 per cent, with shares trading at C$0.20 and a market cap of $9.2 million
FluroTech Ltd. (TSXV:TEST) has taken another step in developing a COVID-19 test from its existing technology.
The company has partnered with Alberta BioPhotonics Inc and Albany Medical College to form FluroTest LLC.
The partnership will develop FluroTech’s CompleTest platform to detect COVID-19, as well as test for immunity in recovered patients.
If the CompleTest system can be adapted, results would be available within 15 minutes.
Through the partnership, the company has gain access to the Albany Medical College immunology and microbial disease department in New York.
The facility is one of the only places in the state with laboratory sufficiently safe for highly virulent disease, such as COVID-19.
The facility will collaborate with FluroTech’s fluorescence spectroscopy laboratory in Calgary, which initially developed the CompleTest platform.
Dr. Elmar Prenne, head of FluroTech’s team in Calgary, is pleased with the collaborative arrangement.
“We are proud to commit our CompleTest platform technology and ongoing discovery efforts to partner with Albany Medical College’s team to find solutions to the difficult problems posed by viruses, and COVID-19 in particular,” he said.
FluroTech hopes the collaboration with Albany Medical Center will help navigate the regularity processes, as well as provide experience in clinical trials and sample collection.
The CompleTest platform was originally developed to test potency and quality in cannabis and hemp products.
As this is markedly different from traditional medical testing, the company cautioned that that development is still in its early stages. Therefore, the viability of adapting the technology to test for COVID-19 remains in question.
FluroTech Ltd. (TEST) is up 29.3 per cent, with shares trading at C$0.20 at 10:35am EST.
