NEW YORK – Luminex Corporation announced Tuesday it has received $642,450 from the US Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to help develop the company's Aries SARS-CoV-2 Assay.
The test provides results in approximately two hours and can be run on Luminex's six-unit and 12-unit Aries Systems molecular diagnostics platform. Luminex said the assay will improve upon current laboratory-developed tests for the virus by removing the need to incorporate additional reagents and allowing labs to begin testing right away once performance has been verified.
The company said it plans to submit the Aries SARS-CoV-2 Assay to the US Food and Drug Administration for an Emergency Use Authorization later this week. Luminex added it will price the test below current Medicare reimbursement levels to "prevent additional financial burden on customers and the healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic."
Last week, Luminex received a BARDA contract and EUA for its high-throughput NxTAG CoV Extended Panel, which runs on the company's Magpix System and can generate results for 96 samples in four hours. According to Luminex President and CEO Nachum Shamir, Luminex is on track to deliver 500,000 tests a month.