INDICAID COVID-19 Tests Detect COVID-19 Omicron Variants with Greater Sensitivity than Others

Test recognizes new COVID omicron variant XBB.1.16 which is seeing a rise throughout the United States

PHASE Scientific Americas, a fast-growing biotechnology company, announces that its successful at-home rapid molecular INDICAID® COVID-19 Rapid Antigen At-Home Test now recognizes the new SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant XBB.1.16 that has spurred and increase in hospitalizations and deaths throughout the world, and has been identified in several states. The INDICAID tests are continuously validated through the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative launched by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The test was shown to detect these COVID-19 variants at lower concentration levels than the competitive products against which it was evaluated.

In response to the pandemic, the NIH formed the RADx initiative to accelerate the development, validation and commercialization of point-of-care and home-based tests that can detect the virus that causes COVID-19. The Atlanta Center for Microsystems Engineered Point-of-Care Technologies (ACME POCT) leads the test validation efforts for RADx. The Center is a joint effort by Emory University, Georgia Tech and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Though PCR is in the title of the Center, they also evaluate Rapid Antigen tests. From local community sites, ACME POCT team collects samples from patients with a range of COVID-19 symptoms, from asymptomatic to severely ill. With duplicate samples from each patient, RADx investigators validate new tests by comparing the rapid test results to the reference test results.

“PHASE is always working to improve and validate our diagnostic products’ performance in the face of the mutating COVID-19 viruses,” said Felix Chao, General Manager of PHASE Scientific Americas. “We appreciate the work of RADx and the Atlanta Center which is essential for distinguishing which COVID-19 tests accurately identify new variants.”  

Get information about PHASE and our INDICAID COVID-19 Rapid Antigen At-Home Tests.