Covid Rapid Test App

The global COVID-19 pandemic is putting economies in jeopardy. Testing helps getting information about immunity. PCR tests and Antibody ELISAs help but laboratories are needed to perform these tests. We have a proven solution that brings extra accuracy to antibody-based rapid tests, and we can scale it to millions. 

• The Covid Rapid Test App works in combination with a simple blood finger-stick you can do at home or in your physician's office. 
• It can be calibrated to work with any certified serological rapid test available from any manufacturer. 
• It helps you to interpret rapid diagnostic test results, removing confusion on whether they are positive or negative, and whether you have or have had COVID-19 in the past. 
• For healthcare providers: it helps monitoring COVID-19 progression in the population real-time and remotely, providing intelligence for effective decision making.

Hospital capacity is something that cannot be changed from one day to another although some countries are now expanding it in record times. Extensive testing has shown paramount in the fight against the viral spread and reducing the death toll. Most countries are conducting extensive testing, but it is not enough to get everyone safely back to work and keep the economy running safely. Lock-downs are costing not only the economy but the well-being of citizens. PCR testing is only positive during the infection period which is great for screening. But how many people is immune already? is it safe for them to go out to work in crowded places? Testing for immunity will probably pave the way to immunity passports, but before we get there, it is important to deploy antibody testing to the masses. Currently only lab and lab kits are used and this  is expensive and time consuming for the healthcare systems. 

Without interpretation rapid serological tests are not so useful as they have to be disposed and the recording of the information as a positive-negative format is the wrong way to look at them. A more quantitative yet as inexpensive approach is needed.

We are a Munich based digital diagnostics startup with certified medical apps on the market. Our aim is to put our technology on the hands of patients and governments to help combat the COVID-19 epidemic. 

Our technology brings extra accuracy to rapid tests by reading, interpreting and securely transmitting and storing the results. Our app guides users through the testing process and it is suitable for healthcare professionals as well as individuals. 

It is very simple, use a finger stick, and take a picture of the  result, the app and our algorithms take care of the rest for the individual and the healthcare professionals.

Everyone. Healthcare systems. We are currently starting clinical testing at Imperial College London and University of Hawaii, involving the healthcare professionals in the usability of the app and its results both in the app itself and the back end. For lay-users we are carrying out usability studies with the UI prototypes to make the UX as smooth and useful as possible.

Antibodies are not detectable during the incubation period of the virus. During this time, the RNA qPCR test is a better screening tool. The two antibodies measured by the Covid Rapid Test App typically appear along with symptoms of COVID-19. One of these antibodies (IgG) remains in the immune memory for up to several months after recovery. We bring this information in a simple way to the users and healthcare professionals.

The App helps to know whether and when you were exposed to COVID-19, but also healthcare professionals to know who may be at risk of contracting COVID-19 following contact with you. Pandemics' spread contention is key, measures such as lock-downs and face masks are widespread, but monitoring immunity will be probably the biggest challenge. It will be required for all population, even after the vaccine is deployed. Our solution is not only for the current pandemic, it can be deployed in future pandemics. 

Serological tests are binary and interpreted by eye. We bring this analogue technology one level up by quantifying its results but also into the digital world, the world of apps and APIs accessible to millions within days. Tests that are cheap and can substitute expensive laboratory equipment now at the hands of everyone. Indeed, a new dimension of performance.

The core technology is in our algorithms. Colorimetrix Core (r) was developed to transform any smartphone in a portable spectrophotometer. 4 years of improvements and development has led us to launch a fertility app (real testing of hormones at home), a water app (test water contaminants at home) and now the covid rapid test app. Image analysis and machine learning are at the core, but we just call them algorithms and math, enough buzzwords out-there (yes we also use AI to detect the tests). 

Main site: www.colorimetrix.com
App site: www.covidrapidtest.app
Other product: www.pearl-fertility.com

https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/science/article/abs/pii/S092540051400094X
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2014/lc/c3lc51235e/unauth#!divAbstract
https://link.springer.com/protocol/10.1007/978-1-4939-6730-8_26
https://link.springer.com/protocol/10.1007/978-1-4939-7614-0_38
https://link.springer.com/protocol/10.1007/978-1-4939-7614-0_36

In order for our solution to reach as many people as possible it has to be not only tested but approved. We have completed the first prototype and have procured the first test and tested a handful of manufacturers available to us. We have also cooperated with labs around the world to on-board their manufacturers. After having selected a few with the highest quality and performance we engaged into clinical testing to collect evidence for the certification process. Even though we can deploy the technology for professional use, our aim is to deploy it to the masses, it needs to be safe and thoroughly tested. We are cooperating with the NHS in the UK and with the University of Hawaii. The next step is to secure the CE-Mark for medical device in Europe and the FDA registration for self-testing. Then, we would like to correlate the immunity results with population data on preconditions or health status. Here we would extend our studies to public health authorities interested in studying such factors. 

Currently we have tested our solution with 50 volunteers and from serum samples collected via the research institutes we are collaborating with. In the next 2 months we need to test 50000 individuals in UK, 30000 in Mexico and 2000 in Hawaii. By the end of the year we would like to obtain the certification and in 5 years deploy it to 10% of the European population.

Massive antibody testing requires necessarily millions of people to be tested. 10% of the EU population is 44 million people. Production capacity of these tests is at 6 million per month today, we can scale the app software with no issue. We are working closely with the healthcare systems as they are the ones more likely to have an impact in the massive deployment of our solution.

Regulatory barriers are the biggest issue. Finance is also key.

Studies and evidence will help us submit the documentation needed for the regulatory barriers to be overcome. Finance, by continuously pitching our solution until we find an investor, we  are seeking VC funding.

4 Full Time (CEO, CTO, iOS/Android, Communications), 5 part time (Data Analytics, Operations, Back-End, Design, Customer Support).

We have the expertise required to bring Software and Biomedical Sciences together and make it a commercial success understanding the user needs.

Westminster and Chelsea Hospital NHS Trust Imperial College London, University of Hawaii, Technical University of Munich. We work with them for clinical studies and research cooperations. We also work with the Netherlands Pharmacies Association for deployment, and Beurer GmbH for global distribution.

We include a software license for every kit we sell. Our aim is not to profit  from selling tests but from the scale that the software can reach. $2.50 license attached to a $40 dollar kit with tests for 1 month or 8 individuals. We sell online, we already have a distribution logistics operation automated for US, Canada and Europe for our Fertility product, we will use the same channels and carriers. We do both B2C and B2B. We consider ourselves B2B2C as we take care of the App facing the user.

A combination of grants and investment capital. We would like to mainly subsidise the service provision of testing. Making testing accessible to everyone and keeping our software alive with the proceedings.

We need funding support and contacts to decision makers in the healthcare sector, we can't deploy this solution without help and experts advice. Key opinion leaders and authorities must learn that our solution is available and ready to scale. Solve will be key in this process.

CDC experts, MIT faculty, Public Health authorities. Test manufacturers as well. They can help us not only deploy the solution but facilitate the access to the market.

We put machine learning into phones so they can become portable laboratories. We dream of the lab-in-your-pocket for self diagnostics, of healthcare coming to the individual and not the individual to the healthcare providers already crowded. AI is a big buzzword, but data science, machine learning algorithms, and image recognition with AI, are all put together in our prototype to help test everyone for Covid-19 immunity.