Stratasys and Origin Partner to Bring Millions of 3D-Printed Nasopharyngeal Swabs to Healthcare Providers for COVID-19 Testing

Origin plans to increase production from 100,000 per week to over a million per week by May

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In response to the pressing need for more COVID-19 testing, Stratasys, Inc. and Origin have signed an agreement in which Stratasys will market and promote Origin 3D-printed nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs to healthcare providers and other testing centers in the U.S.

As widely reported, widespread testing of millions of people is currently hampered by a shortage of testing supplies. Each Origin One 3D printer has the ability to produce batches of 1,500 Origin NP O1 Swabs at a time, multiple times daily. Origin is moving towards a streamlined process allowing the production of approximately 190,000 per day, or 1.3 million per week.

Stratasys will leverage its position as a leading provider of 3D printing solutions to the healthcare industry to market Origin NP O1 Swabs. Stratasys has already been actively serving healthcare systems across the country during the pandemic by leading a coalition that has been providing 3D-printed face shields to nearly 100 front-line organizations. To date, the coalition has provided about 40,000 shields at no cost to health systems.

Stratasys Americas President Rich Garrity said Stratasys is ready to help get millions of swabs to wherever they are most needed. “We have tremendous confidence in Origin’s 3D printing technology, and we’re confident in our ability to help bring them to market efficiently,” he said.

Origin CEO, Christopher Prucha said Origin is ready to scale quickly. “We believe widespread testing can help save lives and get our economy going again, and we’re confident that our Origin One technology and simple material requirements will be able to produce millions of swabs to meet the need,” he said. “We’ve been impressed by the speed with which Stratasys has been able to provide thousands of shields to healthcare systems across the country and believe they are the right partner for helping get millions of swabs where they are most needed.”

Origin swabs were tested in a clinical trial with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, an academic medical center affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Origin reports that results show Origin swabs performed the highest with regard to concordance to control swabs compared to two other 3D printed swabs. In addition, in subjective feedback, Origin swabs were preferred over the other 3D printed swabs.

Each Origin NP O1 Swab is autoclavable and individually packaged. More information is available at www.stratasys.com/covid-19, along with other information about how Stratasys is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stratasys (Nasdaq: SSYS) is a global leader in additive manufacturing or 3D printing technology and is the manufacturer of FDM^®, PolyJet™, and stereolithography 3D printers. The company’s technologies are used to create prototypes, manufacturing tools, and production parts for industries, including aerospace, automotive, healthcare, consumer products and education. For more than 30 years, Stratasys products have helped manufacturers reduce product-development time, cost, and time-to-market, as well as reduce or eliminate tooling costs and improve product quality. The Stratasys 3D printing ecosystem of solutions and expertise includes 3D printers, materials, software, expert services, and on-demand parts production.

To learn more about Stratasys, visit www.stratasys.com, the Stratasys blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook. Stratasys reserves the right to utilize any of the foregoing social media platforms, including the company's websites, to share material, non-public information pursuant to the SEC's Regulation FD. To the extent necessary and mandated by applicable law, Stratasys will also include such information in its public disclosure filings.

Stratasys is a trademark of Stratasys Ltd. and/or its affiliates. Origin is a trademark of Origin.

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