SBIR Phase I: Rapid Antigen-based SERS assay for COVID-19 Detection (COVID-19)

  • Funded by National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • Total publications:0 publications

Grant number: 2031056

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Key facts

  • Disease

    COVID-19
  • Start & end year

    2020
    2021
  • Known Financial Commitments (USD)

    $255,468
  • Funder

    National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • Principal Investigator

    Joel Tabb
  • Research Location

    United States of America
  • Lead Research Institution

    Ionica Sciences
  • Research Priority Alignment

    N/A
  • Research Category

    Pathogen: natural history, transmission and diagnostics

  • Research Subcategory

    Diagnostics

  • Special Interest Tags

    N/A

  • Study Type

    Non-Clinical

  • Clinical Trial Details

    N/A

  • Broad Policy Alignment

    Pending

  • Age Group

    Not Applicable

  • Vulnerable Population

    Not applicable

  • Occupations of Interest

    Not applicable

Abstract

The broader impact and commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to allow testing of potential COVID-19 patients using a rapid and highly accurate diagnostic test, particularly for patients who are asymptomatic. This will provide a significant advantage in "flattening the curve" of the number of cases by preventing these patients from inadvertently infecting their family and community members. Current protocols require days to return a result, creating problems for public health. This test, the first of many that can be produced using the underlying platform technology, would improve: 1) the ability to rapidly identify patients with active COVID-19 cases for expeditious clinical intervention, reducing transmission by that patient; and 2) outcomes because of the higher performance and accuracy.

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses the lack of rapid, accurate testing for COVID-19 in near patient settings. This effort will develop an infectious disease platform that combines: 1) DNA aptamers, a recognition element for target proteins; 2) surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), a vibrational spectroscopic detection method; 3) and orthogonal partial least squares differential analysis, a well-established statistical method often applied to vibrational spectroscopy-based analyses. By employing aptamers that target SARS-CoV-2 related proteins (e.g. the spike (S) protein), this assay is anticipated to identify the presence of this protein under 30 minutes after oro- or naso-pharyngeal sample is collected, and is ultimately expected to achieve >95% clinical sensitivity and specificity.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.