Biosensor startup, ADI team on fast pathogen detection
The goal of the collaboration, says the company, is to develop and mature this new technology to transform the way infectious diseases are diagnosed around the world. The company’s nanosensors, developed with the advanced fabrication capabilities of ADI, will target low-cost, handheld diagnostics and strive to provide results in under a minute with lab test level accuracy.
The threat of the novel Covid-19 coronavirus, says the company, presents an urgent need for better methods of mass screening to contain the spread of the virus. Currently, while scanning foreheads for fever is widely used for screening, this cannot detect asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic infections or distinguish the novel coronavirus from other respiratory illnesses.
Other coronavirus diagnostic tests under development, while essential to diagnose suspected cases at the clinic or hospital, don’t work for mass screening, says the company, as their results take anywhere from 15 minutes to eight hours – too slow for front-line screening.
“We are thrilled to be working with Analog Devices to develop and manufacture our innovative nanosensor diagnostic platform,” says Lisa Diamond, CEO of Pinpoint Science. “Our collaboration with a world-class semiconductor manufacturer like ADI means we can begin to realize the potential of our groundbreaking technology.”
“We see the immediate real-world need for our platform, especially with the pandemic threat posed by the novel coronavirus,” says Diamond. “Pinpoint’s technology can uniquely address the problem of effective mass screening: sensitive enough to detect asymptomatic infections, specific enough to distinguish novel coronavirus from other illnesses, fast enough to replace fever scans, simple enough to use for home self-testing, and affordable enough to use anywhere in the world. We are developing a low-cost, high-speed handheld screening test that can be rapidly deployed as a critical weapon to address emerging global disease threats.”
Nimrode Moreshet, Director of Emerging Business at Analog Devices says, “Analog Devices believes Pinpoint’s novel nanosensor technology holds great promise for a wide range of applications, especially for rapid, low-cost pathogen detection, and we look forward to a long and fruitful collaboration with Pinpoint in bringing this breakthrough technology to market.”
Pinpoint Science
Analog Devices
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