Microbix Discloses New Products, Sales, and Capacity
Sales of QAPs™ kits to help qualify multi-pathogen respiratory test systems
MISSISSAUGA, CANADA, October 29, 2020 – Microbix Biosystems Inc. (TSX: MBX, OTCQB: MBXBF, Microbix®), a life sciences innovator and exporter, announces the availability and initial material sales of “onboarding” kits of its quality assessment products (QAPs™), designed to help testing sites with the successful installation and qualification of multi-pathogen respiratory testing systems.
Branded as “ONBOARDx™,” these QAPs kits are “RUO” classed and intended to assist labs with confirming technician proficiency, the functioning of instruments and reagents, and the handling of test samples. By so doing, ONBOARDx kits help qualify newly-purchased tests or test systems for use with patient samples.
ONBOARDx kits use Microbix’s “PROCEEDx™FLOQ®” room-temperature stable positive and negative samples, formatted on COPAN® FLOQSwabs®. PROCEEDxFLOQ swabs are available for support of each of COVID molecular tests, COVID antigen tests, and Flu A, Flu B, or RSV (each for both molecular and antigen tests). These unique and proprietary products provide important help for clinical lab directors or point-of-care sites as they work to implement multiple new or unfamiliar diagnostic tests or testing systems.
Microbix is making ONBOARDx available to test-makers directly, and to testing sites via its distributors; Alpha-Tec Systems, Inc., Diagnostic International Distribution S.p.A., Labquality Oy, The Medical Supply Company of Ireland, and R-Biopharm AG. Pathogen mix and swab numbers in kits can be customized.
Initially, more than 1,000 kits have been ordered, comprised of tens of thousands of swabs (units). This represents over CDN$ 500,000 in sales, with customer projections of continuing growth. A first material ONBOARDx shipment has now been completed, and in Q1 calendar 2021, Microbix is enhancing its FLOQSwab-based QAPs supply-chain to support production of up to 50,000 units per month.
As for all Microbix QAPs™, those in ONBOARDx kits emulate real patient samples while being consistent, non-infectious, and stable. Their broad cross-platform compatibility and guaranteed utility is particularly relevant for onboarding many different tests, instruments, and reagents under pandemic conditions.
Phil Casselli, SVP at Microbix, commented “Testing sites are working under stressful conditions – being tasked with delivering high test volumes with fatigued and diminished staff, while implementing new tests and testing systems, and using multiple reagents that can be incompatible across different testing systems. Our ONBOARDx kits enable test-makers and laboratory directors to more readily qualify new instruments, tests, or reagents for use, and to help with technician training. After successful validations by multiple industry leaders, we are now pleased to begin more broadly offering our ONBOARDx kits.”
