Astrotech Corp. (ASTC)

[Femto99]

Rapid COVID-19 Breath Test a Game-Changer

“Breath testing is noninvasive, non-intrusive, and can be performed repeatedly as needed,” Dr. Dweik notes. “It does not have a dose limitation like x-rays, an amount limitation like blood or saliva tests, or a timing limitation like PCR [nasal swab], blood and urine tests.”

Cleveland Clinic researchers, led by Dr. Dweik, will work with the BreathTech team to further develop the company’s BreathTest-1000™ mass spectrometer, which is based on the company’s core mass spectrometry technology currently used for explosives trace detection. It will be developed to detect metabolites associated with respiratory disease, including COVID-19, and potentially screen patients within as little as 60 seconds.

The partnership brings together the breath analysis expertise and clinical resources of the Cleveland Clinic team with the scalable technology and deployment experience of the BreathTech team. The joint team plans to open a clinical trial with the technology in the coming months, starting with a Phase 1 open study to verify detection sensitivity in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

“Creating a COVID-19 breath test addresses an urgent unmet clinical need today while also setting us up for a better response to the next global pathogen threat,” adds Dr. Dweik.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/giving/about/publications/december-3-2020