48 - Prairie Post West - Friday, February 26, 2021
Best of the Best Homegrown nanotechnology enhances Alberta’s lab testing for COVID-19 21024AA4
CONTRIBUTED Alberta’s provincial laboratory system has
started using new made-in-Alberta technology for COVID-19 testing – creating jobs and providing a more secure supply of essential lab reagents needed to detect the disease in patients. Edmonton-based Applied Quantum Materials
Inc. (AQM) has reached an agreement with Alber- ta Health Services (AHS) to provide nucleic acid extraction kits to Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL) for use in the province-wide COVID-19 testing program. The kits are used to extract the genetic material from SARS CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – a key step in identifying whether some- one is infected. The kits use AQM’s proprietary MagDx™ tech-
nology, including magnetic silicon-based nanopar- ticles that were developed as part of Canada’s ‘Call to Action’ to fight COVID-19. The agreement with AHS is AQM’s first domestic supply contract, which strengthens Alberta’s medical supply chain by mak- ing it less vulnerable to shortages from internation- al lab suppliers. “Recognizing the urgent need for high-quality,
accurate testing to confront this pandemic, our team chose to apply our pioneering expertise in silicon-based nanotechnology to develop an efficient diagnostic test kit for viral nucleic acid extraction,” said Dr. David Antoniuk, AQM’s Chief Executive Officer. “We are pleased to work with AHS and APL to strengthen the capacity of the Canadian health system to tackle this virus.” “This made-in-Alberta solution is welcome news
in our fight against COVID-19. To date, AHS and Alberta Precision Laboratories has processed more than three million tests. By utilizing homegrown, cutting-edge solutions, this agreement will help to safeguard our lab system from international supply shortages and ensure we continue to deliver tests to Albertans when they need them,” said Tyler Shan- dro, Minister of Health recently. “Alberta has led Canada when it comes to test-
ing. This made-in-Alberta solution does not require international suppliers and means Alberta will continue to be a global leader in testing. It is great to see innovative technologies being developed right here at home,” said Doug Schweitzer, Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation. The foundation of Alberta’s COVID-19 testing pro-
gram is the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) pro- cess, which is used by testing programs around the world. The PCR process requires a steady supply of magnetic particles that are used in lab reagents to isolate the small amount of genetic material contained in each SARS Co-V2 virus. Securing a consistent supply of these reagents throughout the
File photo
Minister of Health Tyler Shandro happy with the technology available for lab testing for Covid-19.
pandemic has been challenging, largely because Canada relies entirely on international vendors. Dr. Stacey Hume, an Associate Professor of Med-
ical Genetics at the University of Alberta, and a member of APL’s molecular genetics team, recog- nized the need for a Canadian-sourced extraction reagent and reached out to AQM to initiate a fast- tracked collaboration. “The supply of reagents needed to analyze
COVID-19 tests can be slow or interrupted at times because of global demand,” said Dr. Hume. “Al- though securing Canada’s supply chain for this reagent was the ultimate goal, it is great to see that we have stimulated and diversified the Alberta economy at the same time,” said Dr. Hume. Working with medical-scientific staff at APL, as
well as with Dr. Hume and her staff within the Uni- versity of Alberta’s Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, AQM has demonstrated that the MagDx™ technol- ogy provides equivalent or superior sensitivity for SARS-CoV-2 than other commercial products that are currently in use. AQM’s product is compatible with many automated extraction platforms used by Canadian health laboratories, and it can also be used in manual extraction methods that do not require costly infrastructure. “Alberta’s public lab system has a strong track
record of collaborating with academia and local medical companies to develop and implement new technologies that improve healthcare for Albertans,” said Dr. Carolyn O’Hara, interim Chief Medical Lab- oratory Officer for Alberta Precision Laboratories. “Working with AQM is a perfect example of how the private sector, university researchers and APL have come together to enhance Alberta’s COVID-19 test- ing program and help ensure we are able to reliably meet the demand for tests now and in the future.”
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