North Carolina company is making a 30-minute coronavirus test

North Carolina company is making a coronavirus test that can deliver results in just 30 MINUTES and detect the virus within a few days of infection

• Heat Biologics, a biopharmaceutical company based in Durham, North Carolina, is partnering with the University of Miami 
• The test involves taking a throat swab and placing it in a tube to see if any genetic material of the virus can be extracted
• A paper strip is then placed in the tube and, if it’s negative, there is one line on the strip, and there are two line if it’s positive
• The company’s test will take just 30 minutes compared to the five or six days required for other tests
• Because no laboratory instruments are required, it can be performed anywhere
• In the US, there are more than 38,000 confirmed cases and there are 477 deaths 
• Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?

A North Carolina biopharmaceutical company is developing a test for the novel coronavirus that can deliver results in just 30 minutes.

Heat Biologics, based in Durham, has partnered with the University of Miami to design a test that can diagnose patients in just a fraction of the time compared to most other tests.

The test doesn’t require any technical equipment or instruments so it can be done just about anywhere, not just in a laboratory.

With sufficient resources and quick approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, Heat Biologics hopes to have its test available in the next few months. 

After the delay in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention getting tests out – and concerns that even an asymptomatic person can spread the disease – the company says its kits will help diagnose more cases. 

It comes as cases in the US inch closer to 40,000 and deaths reach 477.  

Heat Biologics, a biopharmaceutical company based in Durham, North Carolina, is partnering with the University of Miami to make a 30-minute coronavirus test. Pictured: Nurse Susan Cologar takes a swab sample from someone at a coroanvirus testing location in Jacksonville, Florida, March 19

The test involves taking a throat swab and placing it in a tube to see if any genetic material of the virus can be extracted. Pictured: Hospital personnel assist people at a coronavirus screening tent outside the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York, March 19

A paper strip is then placed in the tube and, if it’s negative, there is one line on the strip, and there are two line if it’s positive. Pictured:

‘It’s a very unique diagnostic, easy-to-use, and designed with patients in mind to generate results quickly and efficiently in a very convenient matter,’ Heat Biologics CEO Jeff Wolf told DailyMail.com.

The test involves first taking a swab of the back of a patient’s throat, similar to one done for strep throat.

Then, the swab is placed in a tube to see if the genetic material for the virus can be detected

Lastly, a paper strip is dipped into the tube. From start to finish, the process takes about 30 minutes. 

‘The little paper strip looks like a pregnancy test would look,’ Dr Sylvia Daunert, chair of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, told DailyMail.com 

‘If it’s negative, it has one line. If it’s positive, it has two lines.’

Heat Biologics’ test does not require the use of any laboratory instruments and can provide results on site during a single visit rather than waiting five to six days.

‘When we roll [the test] out, you can use it at a pharmacy, in a doctor’s office, even at drive-thru [testing sites],’ Dr Daunert said.

‘This test can be used in counties where they don’t have access to laboratories.’

She said it could even be used at airports where people who are returning from foreign countries are being screened.

‘You can screen people for a fever and, if they have one, pull them aside and perform the test,’ she said.

Because no laboratory instruments are required, it can be performed anywhere. Pictured: A patient wears a protective face mask while loaded into an ambulance at The Brooklyn Hospital Center emergency room in New York, March 18

Heat Biologics said there is no estimate yet for how much its test will costs, but say it should be less expensive than several available on the market. 

However, the company expects insurance carriers to cover the cost. 

There has been a severe shortage of testing kits across the US,  slowing down crucial diagnoses and leaving many wondering if they have the virus or not.

Several other countries – including South Korea and Germany – have been very aggressive regarding testing in comparison with the US. 

‘You need to control the transmission so if you know who is infected, you can monitor them for symptoms,’ Dr Daunert said.

‘South Korea and Germany has done great job with that. Those are the models we should aspire to.’  

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