Co-Diagnostics (NASDAQ:CODX) Inc. reports that its Logix Smart COVID-19 Test Kit was used by Italian researchers to confirm the presence of SARS-CoV-2, including mutated strains of the virus.
The company said researchers were able to identify the virus in a community surveillance method by testing single-use waste.
Moreover, the peer-reviewed results were published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
READ: Co-Diagnostics sees 2Q revenue rise by 13.8% driven by sales of the Logix Smart COVID-19 Test
Co-Diagnostics (NASDAQ:CODX) said the innovative approach for surveilling communities involved testing the saliva left on single-use glasses and bottles for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in 20 different sites in Northern Italy during the second peak of COVID-19 in January and February 2021.
The objects tested, including plastic coffee cups, plastic glasses, beverage cans, and plastic bottles discarded in snack bars, cafes, schools, and businesses, were swabbed, pooled, and then analyzed at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità using commercially available PCR reagents.
Researchers then used Co-Diagnostics (NASDAQ:CODX)' Logix Smart COVID-19 Test to corroborate the results with complete concordance. The positive samples were later sequenced, and some were found to contain the presence of mutated variants of the virus.
"We are pleased to add this study to the growing list of scientific literature that supports the value and utility of our testing technology, and specifically our original COVID-19 test that we developed in the earliest days of the pandemic,” said Co-Diagnostics CEO Dwight Egan in a statement.
“Demonstrating that the virus can survive in saliva samples on surfaces long enough to allow for surveillance of the community may allow for another tool in the fight against the pandemic, and we believe that the Logix Smart test, built on our patented CoPrimer platform, was chosen as the assay to confirm the results due to its reputation as a high-quality SARS-CoV-2 PCR test."
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