Sanofi, Luminostics To Work On Smartphone-Based COVID-19 Self-Testing App

Sanofi SA SNY, which is developing two COVID-19 vaccines through separate partnerships and evaluating current treatment options, has taken another step in its fight against the deadly virus.

The French large-cap biopharma said Thursday it has signed an agreement with Luminostics, a California-based startup that provides DIY, at-home testing solutions, to evaluate a collaboration on a unique, self-testing solution for COVID-19.

The testing solution would draw upon Luminostics proprietary technology for consumer diagnostics for COVID-19 testing and Sanofi's clinical research testing experience and capabilities.

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The companies said the diagnostic platform comprises:

• An iOS/Android app to instruct a user how to run the test, capture and process data to display test results, and then connect to a telehealth service based on the results
• A reusable adapter
• Consumables for specimen collection, preparation and processing.

"The goal is to provide a smartphone-based solution that eliminates the current need for healthcare professional administration or laboratory tests," the companies said in the release.

The total time from specimen collection to result would be in the range of 30 minutes or less. The companies sees multiple advantages such as easy access and availability to patients, lower infection risk obviating the need for interpersonal contact for testing and rapid availability of results, allowing faster decision making.