NEW YORK – Fluxergy said on Monday that it is collaborating with Mass General Brigham (MGB, formerly Partners Healthcare) to evaluate Fluxergy's research-use-only COVID-19 molecular testing platform.
Fluxergy, based in Irvine, California, will specifically work with the MGB Center for COVID Innovation, said Fluxergy Chief Commercialization Officer Ali Tinazli.
The center was launched in late March and is led by Wyss Institute core faculty member David Walt and Massachusetts General Hospital researcher Guillermo Tearney. Walt and Lauren Ritterhouse, associate director for the Center for Integrated Diagnostics at Massachusetts General Hospital, spearhead the so-called Diagnostic Accelerator, a collaboration between the Wyss Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital that aims to speed up the commercialization of innovative diagnostic tests.Â
Fluxergy's diagnostic system comprises consumable "lab-on-chip" test cartridges called Fluxergy Cards, the Fluxergy Analyzer, and FluxergyWorks software, and can provide results in under an hour. Fluxergy Cards are designed to be cost-effective and scalable, using proprietary printed circuit board manufacturing and microfluidics technologies, according to the company. FluxergyWorks, meanwhile, enables organizations to link as many as 256 Fluxergy Analyzers via the cloud for centralized data reporting.
Tinazli said that Fluxergy has submitted a PCR-based COVID-19 test for Emergency Use Authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration. However, the collaboration with MGB will be for research use only. Tinazli added that the company is also developing the system to be able to simultaneously run molecular and immunoassay diagnostic tests.
In March, Fluxergy announced that it was similarly working with a team at the University of California, San Diego, to evaluate its system for COVID-19 testing. That effort is being led by Davey Smith, professor of medicine and head of the UCSD Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, as well as a member of Fluxergy's medical advisory board.