BioCanna partners with University of Ottawa researchers to design a Point-of-Care Rapid and Highly-sensitive COVID-19 Test Kit
TORONTO, June 17, 2020 /CNW/ - BioCanna Healthcare Inc. ("BioCanna" or the "Company") today announced that the Company has entered into a partnership with researchers at University of Ottawa, to co-develop a Rapid and Highly-sensitive Point-of-Care COVID-19 Test Kit for detecting COVID-19 effectively and efficiently.
The current COVID-19 pandemic has caused more than 8 million infections and more than 437,000 deaths worldwide to date. While public health workers are working around the clock to identify new cases of COVID-19 infections, a clear bottleneck - lack of rapid testing capacity to keep up with the rate of infection - has been severely exposed. This problem is exacerbated by emerging evidence suggesting that approximately 50% to 85% of COVID-19 patients, who are either asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic, are still able to transmit the virus and infect others undetected, making it even more difficult to keep track of the disease in order to contain it, an unfortunate situation
We propose to develop a point-of-care (POC) paper strip test kit for highly sensitive and rapid detection of COVID-19 infections. Unlike most paper strip test kits, the proposed test kit is designed to be highly sensitive to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19, from swabbed samples without the need for sample preparations.
The test kit is designed to be used at home, in remote locations, or in source limited settings. We expect that the test results can be available within 10 minutes.
About BioCanna Healthcare
BioCanna is a specialty biotech R&D company focused on developing over time a robust pipeline of FDA and Health Canada approved synthetic compounds targeting the endocannabinoid system of the human body to treat certain diseases of the central nervous system and autoimmune disorders of the skin, the musculoskeletal system, to improve human health. BioCanna is also focusing on manufacturing and distributing CBD and CBD derivative products in Canada and in the Asia Pacific Countries.
BioCanna through its wholly owned subsidiaries in China hold industrial hemp cultivating, manufacturing and processing licenses, focusing on the Cannabidiol and related products sale in China.
Forward-looking statements
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws (collectively, "Forward-Looking Information"). Forward-Looking Information includes, but is not limited to, information with respect to BioCanna's strategy, plans or future financial or operating performance, receipt of any governmental approvals, including the approval or completion of any trials regarding the use of the POC kit or whether POC may be effective, the costs associated with such test and etc.
We seek safe harbor.
SOURCE Biocanna Healthcare Inc.
For BioCanna, Oliver Xing, CPA,CA Telephone: 416 562-8120 Email: [email protected]; For University of Ottawa: Professor: Xudong Cao, Ph.D, Telephone: 613-562-5800 x 2097 Email: [email protected]
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