Switch Health announces collaboration with Anven Biosciences to bring enhanced therapeutic and diagnostic capabilities to Canada for COVID-19

TORONTO, July 28, 2021 /CNW/ - Switch Health today announced that it has entered into a collaboration with Anven Biosciences, a leader in next generation therapeutics and diagnostics for personalized medicine. In this collaboration, Anven and Switch Health are focused on developing a new class of artificial antibodies as molecular diagnostics to detect symptomatic and asymptomatic infections of SARS-CoV-2 that will provide faster, more convenient, and more accessible healthcare services to patients across Canada.  This new cutting-edge approach enables robust, point of care tests that may be distributed and stored without refrigeration to support on-demand testing for a broad range of needs from small remote populations to high volume metropolitan scenarios. 

"Effective community testing depends on practical, yet comprehensive diagnostic capabilities that can be universally distributed and provide accurate identification of the known and newly emerging variants of COVID-19," said Marc Thomson, Chief Operating Officer at Switch Health. "Anven Biosciences takes diagnostics to a new level of service by allowing us to offer convenient solutions that can engage the diverse communities of Canada and help local physicians treat patients with more personalized treatment decisions."

Mapping diseases is a complicated process and some diseases such as COVID-19 continuously mutate into new variants. The Anven collaboration enables Switch Health to work with top researchers and biotech companies to identify and map specific antigens and antibodies with unprecedented resolution and speed.  The Anven approach for diagnostics also offers low cost, easy to implement applications for a broad spectrum of consumers, including less developed areas that lack cold-chain logistics and where long shelf-life may be required.

"Anven is excited to partner with Switch Health and its nationwide network of testing facilities ready to roll out the new diagnostics and build a knowledge base to be better prepared for future pandemics," said Dr. Muralidhar Reddy Moola, Chief Executive Officer of Anven Biosciences.  "This collaboration with Switch Health is the latest application of Anven's technology platform to develop robust compounds to improve and expand personalized healthcare services to patients," said Bill Shelander, COO of Anven Biosciences. "We will work together to bring these services to patients, especially in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, to help individuals and communities return to normal".

Switch Health and Anven intend to work with urgency to make these new diagnostics available to patients and communities across the globe.

About Switch Health

Switch Health Holdings Inc. (Switch Health) is an industry leader that is transforming how healthcare is delivered in Canada through cutting edge decentralized next generation diagnostics and patient-focused digital solutions. Switch Health developed an end-to-end, innovative, and accessible testing-solution in Canada's fight against COVID-19, with its at-home and mobile collection kit to test Canadians safely, rapidly, and reliably for COVID-19. Switch Health's services are driven by its secure, proprietary patient portal, ASMO. Switch Health offers its gold standard of rapid and PCR testing in over 200 languages from the comfort peoples' homes or workplaces, with the guidance of trusted healthcare professionals and the delivery of results through some of Canada's top laboratories. 

About Anven Biosciences, Inc.

Anven Biosciences Inc. is located in Berkeley, California, and specializes in developing unique bio-functional molecules that enable identification and rapid development of highly specific compounds against protein targets involved in compromised health disorders.  Molecules exhibiting such sensitivity support research and scientific advancements of new and more effective diagnostics and therapeutics for neurodegenerative, autoimmune, cancer, and infectious diseases, ultimately leading to more effective and more accessible personalized healthcare.

SOURCE Switch Health Inc.

Media Contact, Switch Health: Jordan Paquet, Vice President of Public Affairs, [email protected]; Media Contact, Anven: Bill Shelander, [email protected], 1-877-735-9148.