Oxford, Prenetics to take their COVID-19 rapid testing tech to other infectious diseases

While most of the world can’t wait to leave the COVID-19 pandemic and its many disastrous accouterments behind, researchers are hoping at least one aspect of the outbreak sticks around: the prevalence of rapid molecular testing. To that end, the University of Oxford, its Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research (OSCAR) in China and Prenetics, a Hong Kong-based test maker, have partnered to further develop the technology behind Oxford’s rapid COVID test so that it can be used to diagnose other infectious diseases around the world. The OxLAMP COVID-19 test has shown promising results: It can detect the presence of the virus with 96% sensitivity in just 20 minutes and can be processed outside of a traditional lab setting.