SQI Diagnostics receives funding for COVID-19 triage test

• SQI Diagnostics (TSXV:SQD) will modify one of its diagnostics tools into a triage test for COVID-19 patients
• The company’s test will determine which patients require what treatment, based on their condition’s severity
• SQI will receive a portion of a C$1 million grant to finalise and deploy the one-hour test 
• Reports indicate that triage diagnostics will be essential as COVID-19 patients outnumber available beds and ventilators
• SQI Diagnostics (SQD) is up 121.43 per cent, and is currently trading at $0.16 per share

SQI Diagnostics (TSXV:SQD) has been chosen to develop a triage diagnostic test for patients suffering from COVID-19.

Investigators from the University Health Network (UHN) selected the company for the task. SQI will modify one of its previously developed assays to create the Rapid Acute Lung Injury Diagnostic, or RALI-Dx. 

RALI-Dx will hopefully predict whether or not a patient’s respiratory distress is caused by COVID-19 or another underlying cause. It will hopefully also determine if patients require intensive care, standard hospital care, or at-home treatment and monitoring.

The one-hour test, once fully developed, will be an essential tool for deployment across the globe. Reports indicate that in America, the number of available beds and ventilators will fall far below the number of predicted COVID-19 patients. 

According to the American Hospital Association, the USA has only 46,000 ICU beds in total, with demands potentially reaching as high as 200,000. 

Estimates suggest that almost a million Americans will require ventilator machines to help them breathe. However, the Society of Critical Care Medicine has published a paper stating that the US healthcare system can only provide for about 135,000 people.

With such a gap between supply and demand, diagnostic tools like RALI-Dx will help doctors to appropriately allocate those resources.

In order to fund the validation and testing of RALI-Dx, the UHN will provide SQI with part of a C$1 million grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

SQI’s Interim CEO, Eric Brouwer, called the fight against COVID-19 a tremendous opportunity for the company.

“It is an opportunity to allow our organisation to commercialise an assay we have already developed. It is also an opportunity to make a positive impact for people around the world,” he said. 

SQI Diagnostics (SQD) is up 121.43 per cent and is currently trading at $0.16 per share, as of 11:39am EST.