DENVER & TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Corgenix Medical Corporation (OTC QB: CONX.OB) and Fio Corporation today announced that they are working together to integrate two technological advances to help end the Ebola outbreak in West Africa: a rapid test, backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, that can detect the virus in minutes; and a mobile device, which is being adapted with further funding from the Gates Foundation, to analyze and upload results directly to a central data system.
Fio is adapting its Deki™ Reader to work with the Corgenix ReEBOVTM Antigen Rapid Test for the Ebola virus, which recently received Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and was listed as eligible for procurement by the World Health Organization (WHO). Combining these technologies will give suspected Ebola patients in the most remote, resource-poor settings, access to automated test results. Results will then immediately be transmitted to Fio’s data system, Fionet™, capturing vital information that is currently missed or delayed.
“This collaboration makes testing more accessible to those at risk and data more readily available to those managing the outbreak, a combination that the Gates Foundation identified and mobilized,” said Dr. Michael M. Greenberg, chairman and CEO of Fio. “The resulting technology will expand the capability to fight Ebola now and strengthen national health systems beyond the current crisis.”
Corgenix researchers on the ground in Sierra Leone have already started using smartphones to transmit images of rapid Ebola test results to the Fionet data system. Together with Fio’s tools for case and contact mapping, this capability offers governments and other organizations responding to the outbreak a way to track the disease in real time.
“We’re taking the fight against Ebola to another level with Fio’s data collection and management, which is critical to the success of rapid testing,” said Douglass Simpson, Corgenix president and CEO. “This marks a tremendous advancement in Ebola testing, and it lays the groundwork for a strong and productive partnership between our two companies on future projects.”
The instant traceability of infected or potentially infected individuals – knowing test results, locations and movement over time and across borders – is essential to containing the spread of the Ebola virus and other highly contagious diseases.
Both companies will continue to work together to integrate the two technologies for decentralized Ebola virus testing throughout West Africa. Beyond the current crisis, this will serve health systems more broadly to better manage future outbreaks, as well as other infectious diseases in the region, such as Lassa virus.
Fio’s Deki Reader – which is already CE-marked for use with rapid tests that detect malaria and dengue fever – is also being adapted for use with the Corgenix ReLASV® Antigen Rapid Test for the Lassa virus.
Fio received a Gates Foundation grant in December 2014 to adapt its Deki Reader to analyze rapid Ebola tests and transmit results to Fionet to be integrated with case and contact management tools.
A few weeks later, Corgenix received two grants – one from the Gates Foundation and one from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation – to advance the company’s development of an Ebola rapid test kit.
Both the ReLASV® Antigen Rapid Test and the ReEBOVTM Antigen Rapid Test have not been cleared for routine diagnostic use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The ReLASV® Antigen Rapid Test is CE-marked for diagnostic use in EU and other countries that recognize the CE mark.
The ReEBOVTM Antigen Rapid Test is not CE-marked and may only be used as a diagnostic device under the conditions of the Emergency Use Authorization issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
About Fio Corporation
Operating at the nexus of care delivery and data, Fio is focused on decentralized management of infectious diseases in developed and developing countries alike. Fio helps health workers of all skill levels improve the quality of care they provide to individual patients, while automatically capturing and disseminating data to strengthen health systems as a whole. Fio’s solution combines mobile intelligent devices with cloud information services to facilitate healthcare delivery that drives, rather than competes with, data capture. Fio is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with commercial operations underway in Latin America, Africa and Europe.
About Corgenix Medical Corporation
Corgenix is a leader in the development and manufacturing of specialized diagnostic kits for immunology disorders, vascular diseases (including the world’s only non-blood-based test for aspirin effect), bone and joint disorders and a line of unique detection products for viral hemorrhagic disease. Corgenix diagnostic products are commercialized for use in clinical laboratories throughout the world. The company currently sells over 50 diagnostic products through a global distribution network and has significant experience in product submissions to the FDA and other worldwide regulatory authorities. Additionally, Corgenix contract develops and manufactures products for key medical and life science companies in state-of-the-art facilities in Colorado. The company operates under a Quality Management System that is ISO 13485:2012 certified and compliant with FDA regulations. More information is available at www.corgenix.com (Corporate website) and www.corgenix.net (Contract Services website).
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical facts are “forward-looking” statements (identified by the words “believe”, “estimate”, “project”, “expect” or similar expressions) within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, continued acceptance of the Company’s products and services in the marketplace, competitive factors, changes in the regulatory environment, and other risks detailed in the Company’s periodic report filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The statements in this press release are made as of today, based upon information currently known to management, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.
