Mawi iSWAB Microbiome-EL Enables Prime Discoveries’ Development of Rapid Extraction-Less COVID Diagnostic Assay
Mawi DNA Technologies (Mawi), a biotechnology company focusing on the development of innovative technologies for biosampling, announces that Prime Discoveries has successfully developed CovidDetect™, a rapid isothermal amplification diagnostic assay for detecting SARS-CoV-2. Without the need for RNA extraction and purification, the sample result occurs in less than 30 minutes. The assay uses Mawi’s new iSWAB Microbiome-EL (Extraction-Less) sample collection technology. This allows RNA release from the sample and maintains stability, protecting it from degradation and allowing room temperature storage and transport.
Prime Discoveries recently received CE IVD marking for CovidDetect™ and plans to pursue FDA 510K approval soon. Clinical results from Prime CovidDetect™ has been peer reviewed and recently published in PLOS ONE under “A Rapid, Specific, Extraction-Less, and Cost-Effective RT-LAMP Test for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Clinical Specimens.” The CE marking allows deployment of a solution to countries in Africa and Asia where rapid, inexpensive diagnostics for various infections with minimal technical expertise and equipment infrastructure is highly required.
Prime CovidDetect™ leverages Mawi’s unique iSWAB Microbiome-EL sample collection buffer with Prime Discoveries’ patented Loop AMPlification (LAMP) technology. This allows isothermal nucleic acid amplification removing the need for expensive thermal cycling equipment required for PCR. The Extraction-Less protocol bypasses the expensive and complex nucleic acid extraction and purification step, saving 60-90 minutes of sample processing time needed for PCR.
Arun Manoharan, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer at Prime Discoveries, said, “The COVID pandemic has shown that there is a big need for rapid diagnostic assays. Prime Discoveries aims to build a portfolio of solutions which can provide results in under 45 minutes with minimal laboratory, reagent and technical skill requirements. This is ideal for point of care testing in rural neighborhoods, mobile testing, border points of entry and clinical locations with minimal infrastructure. Our work with COVID has shown stable performance of the Mawi iSWAB Microbiome-EL for hundreds of clinical samples with similar or superior performance to RT-PCR solutions. Samples have been stable for more than two weeks with minimal RNA degradation along with high compatibility with our isothermal nucleic acid amplification techniques.” He added, “Our partnership with Mawi enables Prime Discoveries to develop room temperature sampling with Extraction-Less capabilities for our rapid diagnostic solutions in many areas. These include influenza, chlamydia, gonorrhea, trichomonas, HBV, HCV, HPV, TB, herpes, syphilis, etc. We are excited to partner with Mawi for future products empowering customers to test thousands of patients rapidly for various infections including respiratory, gastrointestinal, sexually transmitted pathogens and those with anti-microbial resistance.”
About Prime Discoveries
Prime Discoveries develops rapid, novel diagnostics for emerging pathogen infections with a focus on cost effective, massively scalable and easily automatable assays. Founded in NYC in 2017, Prime’s scientists have extensive backgrounds in microbiology, computational biology, lab automation and AI from Genentech, Cooper Genomics, Recombine, Phosphorus, and NYU. Prime is advised by leading experts in the fields of genomics and public health including Dr. George Church and New York University. Prime is supported by academic institutions, venture capital firms and angel investors including New York University, Charles Zegar (Bloomberg), Esther Dyson (23 & Me), BoxGroup, Akron Fusion Ventures, Beresford Ventures, Cannonball Capital, Liquid 2 Ventures, Francois Nader (Moderna, Acceleron, Shire), Unshackled Ventures, Doberman Forward, and others. For more information, visit www.primediscoveries.com.
About Mawi DNA Technologies
Mawi DNA Technologies, founded in 2013, has developed and commercialized the iSWAB technology, an innovative system for collection of biosamples. Mawi’s mission is to uphold sample integrity from anywhere in the world at room temperature, enabling true sample diversity across any geography or population segment. At Mawi, The Future of Biosampling is Here™. For more information, visit http://www.mawidna.com.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220425005323/en/
Contact information
Investors:
Jerome David, VP of Sales and Marketing
510-256-5186, j.david@mawidna.com
Media Contact:
Susan Tellem, APR, RN, BSN
310-313-3444, susan@tellemgrodypr.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Lattice Wins 2025 Global Semiconductor Alliance Award6.12.2025 01:49:00 EET | Press release
Lattice Semiconductor (NASDAQ: LSCC), the low power programmable leader, today announced that it was selected as ‘Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company’ at the 2025 Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) Awards. The GSA awards recognize companies that have demonstrated excellence through their success, vision, strategy, and future opportunities in the industry as determined by votes from GSA members. “We are honored to be recognized by the Global Semiconductor Alliance and our peers as one of 2025’s most respected public semiconductor companies. This recognition reflects the dedication of the Lattice team and the trust of our customers, partners, suppliers, and investors. Looking ahead, we remain laser-focused on driving innovation and strengthening our role as the trusted low power programmable leader for semiconductor and system solutions,” said Ford Tamer, Chief Executive Officer, Lattice Semiconductor. The annual GSA Awards celebrate the accomplishments of the semiconductor indu
Fitch Learning Completes Acquisition of Moody’s Analytics Learning Solutions and the Canadian Securities Institute5.12.2025 17:48:00 EET | Press release
Fitch Learning, the global leader in financial learning and professional certifications, today announced the completion of its acquisition of Moody’s Analytics Learning Solutions (MALS) and the Canadian Securities Institute (CSI). MALS is a global provider of credit and digital learning, and CSI is a leading provider of certifications for the Canadian financial services industry. Fitch Learning, recognized globally as the premier financial education provider, delivers specialized training for the financial services industry through accredited qualifications, flexible corporate solutions programs, managed services and digital learning solutions trusted by leading institutions worldwide. The combined business will serve over 92,000 finance professionals across 148 countries, at every stage of their careers. “This acquisition is about creating more opportunities for growth – for organizations and for individuals,” said Andreas Karaiskos, CEO of Fitch Learning. “By combining both organizat
Arthur D. Little and Vega IT Unveil Joint Venture for Digital Innovation5.12.2025 17:00:00 EET | Press release
Arthur D. Little (ADL) and Vega IT today announced the formation of Axceler8 Solutions, a 50/50 joint venture created to design, develop, and operate a portfolio of digital and AI solutions aimed at improving efficiency and automating complex business processes. The launch of this new company is the direct outcome of a year of successful collaboration between the two firms and marks a new phase in their shared ambition to bring scalable, high-performance digital solutions to market, aiming to further augment their clients’ capacity to compress time to impact in a variety of domains. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251205465303/en/ Arthur D. Little and Vega IT have announced the formation of Axceler8 Solutions, a 50/50 joint venture created to design, develop, and operate a portfolio of digital and AI solutions. Axceler8 Solutions’ first product, Axceler8 Rx, is now live as a newly developed platform, and is a
Lone Star Announces Sale of SPX FLOW to ITT Inc.5.12.2025 14:30:00 EET | Press release
Lone Star Funds (“Lone Star”) today announced the signing by an affiliate of Lone Star Fund XI, LP of a definitive agreement to sell SPX FLOW, Inc. (“SPX FLOW”), a leading provider of highly engineered equipment and process technologies for attractive end markets including industrial, health and nutrition, to ITT Inc. (NYSE: ITT) for $4.775 billion in cash and shares of common stock. Based in Charlotte, N.C., SPX FLOW focuses on process technologies delivering mixing, blending, fluid handling, separation, thermal heat transfer and other solutions integral to industrial, health and nutrition markets. The company has operations in more than 25 countries and sales in more than 140 countries. In partnership with Lone Star, SPX FLOW has focused on improving its sales execution and operating platform, while ensuring high quality and innovative product development. The management team has improved the company’s commercial organization and executed growth initiatives to build its presence in e
AmTrust Financial Services and Blackstone Credit & Insurance Close Strategic Transaction and Launch Newly Formed Multinational MGA Company Named ANV Group Holdings Ltd.5.12.2025 14:00:00 EET | Press release
AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. (“AmTrust” or the “Company”), a global specialty property casualty insurer, and Blackstone Credit & Insurance (“BXCI”), today announced the closing of a strategic transaction under which AmTrust and funds managed by BXCI have partnered to spin-off certain of AmTrust’s Managing General Agencies (“MGAs”) and fee-based businesses in the U.S., United Kingdom, and Continental Europe, into ANV Group Holdings Ltd. (“ANV”), a newly formed independent company, following receipt of regulatory approvals. AmTrust and ANV have entered into a ten-year capacity agreement through which AmTrust will remain the underwriter for the existing books of business offered through the MGAs. As previously announced on September 15, 2025, the agreement includes seven AmTrust subsidiaries: ANV Specialty, Risico, Collegiate, ANV Nordic, Arc Legal, Qualis, and Abacus. These businesses provide diverse risk and insurance coverages including cyber excess and surplus (E&S), directors and
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom