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Veracyte, MaviDx Ink Agreement to Develop COVID-19 Assay

NEW YORK – South San Francisco-based Veracyte and MaviDx said on Wednesday they have signed an agreement for MaviDx to develop ultra-high throughput genomic testing for SARS-CoV-2 on Veracyte's nCounter diagnostic platform.

As part of the collaboration, Miami-based MaviDx will develop, validate, secure regulatory approvals for, and commercialize SARS-CoV-2 and other infectious disease tests, including for influenza, on the nCounter system.

MaviDx's assay will detect and quantify SARS-CoV-2 copy numbers from nasal or throat swabs using the nCounter system. The firm is designing the assay to process up to about 9,000 patient samples at a time using a single cartridge, with the ability for a lab to potentially run up to five cartridges or more on the instrument in a day.

The deal, the partners said, could enable the processing of up to 40,000 samples daily on the nCounter system for diagnostic testing and population screening for COVID-19.

Veracyte noted that it has secured an equity stake in MaviDx and will supply the firm's infectious disease kits and nCounter instruments to aid laboratories and other entities in the US and in global markets.

Financial details of the agreement were undisclosed.

"[We] believe that [MaviDx's] novel front-end technology, combined with the nCounter platform, has the potential to help make COVID-19 testing widely available in clinical settings, as well as in the workplace, schools, or other venues," Bonnie Anderson, CEO of Veracyte, said in a statement. "We look forward to supporting their efforts and to expanding our reach into this new area of significant unmelt need."