NEW YORK – Boulder, Colorado-based Transformative Biotech announced on Thursday that it has acquired extraction-free, direct-to-PCR technologies from Summit Biolabs for undisclosed terms.
"The technologies we acquired are proven in commercial clinical testing," Transformative Biotech CEO Russ Hullet said in a statement, and Aurora, Colorado-based Summit Biolabs has used the technology during the COVID-19 pandemic to process approximately 600,000 molecular diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2, saving an estimated 75 percent on lab expenses compared to extraction-based PCR.
Transformative's pathogen collection and transport buffer allow for stabilization of different sample types, including from nasal swabs and saliva, the firm said, making testing for viral or bacterial infections simpler and more straightforward. It's patent-pending buffer also permits molecular diagnostic testing for infectious diseases in both at-home and point-of-care settings.
The technology reduces the time and expense required to process PCR tests, and Transformative Biotech's team will now work to broaden the adoption of these new technologies in infectious disease and cancer molecular testing.
"The financial efficiencies and reduced space and equipment requirements for direct-to-PCR testing will be of great benefit to laboratories domestically and internationally," Hullet said.