SOUTH AFRICA – Biotechnology company Medical Diagnostech has collaborated with digital health non-profit firm Audere to introduce Africa’s first home-grown Covid-19 antigen test together with a digital companion app.
Audere is a company that combines smartphone technology, computer vision, machine learning and the best of cloud-based services to deliver tailored healthcare technology solutions worldwide aimed at improving global health outcomes in underserved communities.
Under the deal, Medical Diagnostech’s MD SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Device will be combined with Audere’s HealthPulse app which will provide digital administration instructions and result interpretation support.
Medical Diagnostech manufactures high quality rapid diagnostic test kits using its secret methodology for increased sensitivity and early detection.
The digital integration will allow for more informed surveillance and disease management as well as address the test inequity challenges faced by individuals in South Africa.
Audere’s HealthPulse digital companion app will enhance the end user experience, making testing easier and more accurate by providing digital administration instructions and unbiased result interpretation support powered by artificial intelligence.
The online platform will also integrate the results with public health reporting systems which will help to improve public health reporting amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The antigen test is designed for the qualitative detection of the Covid-19 Nucleocapsid protein (N-protein) antigen from nasal swabs done by registered healthcare workers.
The test which was designed for the African market and manufactured in Africa is the first of its kind to receive approval from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) late last year.
Access to cost-effective diagnostics is vital in the fight against Covid-19 especially in Africa and SAHPRA’s approval provides the crucial needed platform.
The approval also provides another boost to the country’s efforts in developing and scaling up local reagents along with point-of-care tests for self-sufficiency in relation to SARS-CoV-2.
“The increased public health reporting capabilities enabled by digitizing rapid diagnostic test result data are crucial to South Africa’s evolving public health strategy,” Audere CEO Dr Dino Rech said.
Audere company has noted that the integrated app will be available to South African frontline health workers in the second half of the year through a pilot roll-out in the private and public sectors.
Meanwhile, LumiraDx Fast Lab Solutions, a LumiraDx business unit, recently collaborated with digital health firm Audere to improve access to COVID-19 tests.
LumiraDx Fast Lab Solutions under the partnership offered a self-collected COVID-19 nasal specimen collection kit for use with the LumiraDx SARS-CoV-2 RNA STAR Complete assay.
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