NEW YORK – Point-of-care diagnostic firm Senzo announced on Thursday that it has received $750,000 from the US Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for further development of its COVID-19 test.
The funding is intended to help Senzo garner Emergency Use Authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for its Amplified Lateral Flow (ALF) COVID-19 test and bring the test to market, the Philadelphia-based company said in a statement.
The test incorporates amplification into a lateral flow test to increase the sensitivity while maintaining specificity, Senzo said. In a third-party research and development study, the company's antigen test was 100 percent accurate in concordance with PCR testing, the firm noted. Results are available within 10 minutes, according to Senzo's website.
"BARDA's support of our ALF technology will be instrumental in helping us advance our ultimate goal of bringing ALF tests to market," Senzo CEO Jeremy Stackawitz said in a statement. The time frame for the contract is about six months, Stackawitz said via email.
The company is also applying its technology to other diseases including influenza A/B, tuberculosis, HIV, Clostridium difficile, and hepatitis C, it said.