Covi-Read - Développement d'un test microfluidique rapide et portable dédié à la détection du SARS-CoV-2[Covi-Read - Development of a rapid and portable microfluidic test dedicated to the detection of SARS-CoV-2]

Since the appearance of the Ebola virus in 2014, the MMN-ESPCI and CIBU-PASTEUR have worked together to develop a portable test, dedicated to the detection of the nucleic acids of pathogens, viruses and bacteria, by exploiting the latest developments in microfluidic paper technology and molecular diagnostics. Together, we published three papers and issued a patent. Since then, the ESPCI-PASTEUR collaboration has been very active. Recently, we succeeded in demonstrating a portable system, based on the LAMP-QUASR (Loop Amplification coupled to a sensitive detection of the amplicons) in which the extraction of the RNA is carried out, amplified, the product of the reaction being detected with a smartphone. It is important to note that all reaction components are lyophilized, which minimizes the number of pipetting steps and allows storage at room temperature. Since February 2020, we have been working on the application of our technology to the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Our technology will allow millions of decentralized tests to be carried out, with a minimum of equipment, therefore accessible to doctors' offices, small laboratories or small clinics, with a response in 45 min, sensitivity and specificity comparable to PCR, without the need to send the sample to medical laboratories equipped with expensive PCR machines. The objective of the proposal is to develop our efforts on this technology in the very short term (visualization, heating, performance, various optimizations, etc.)