By GREGORY ZELLER //
The United States, at long last, has COVID-19 cornered – national vaccinations have soared, while the New York State Department of Health on Wednesday reported the lowest single-day positivity rate (among the tested) in seven months.
But with ever-mutating COVID variants, ever-mounting international concerns and the ever-present threat posed by the unvaccinated, faster and better COVID testing remains a critical imperative.
Enter Acupath Laboratories, the Plainview-based laboratory that last year executed a perfect pandemic pivot, spinning nimbly from cancer diagnostics to COVID-19 detection. The circa-1998 biotech quickly earned FDA Emergency Use Authorization for its COVID-19 real-time polymerase chain reaction assay – a PCR test that helped it become one of few commercial laboratories licensed by the state to detect COVID.
Now, Acupath has announced a new deal with Florida-based Benasource, a group-purchasing platform for independent pharmacies that will deploy Acupath’s saliva-based COVID-19 PCR testing throughout its national system.
Vinesh Darji: A simple plan.
Acupath’s PCR assay is already available at 40-plus independent pharmacies across the country. In the coming weeks, it’s scheduled to go online at an additional 135 independent pharmacies in the Benasource network – a good get for Acupath and “important” addition for those nationwide member pharmacies, according to Benasource President Vinesh Darji.
“The Acupath team understands not only the complex regulatory and compliance landscape, but the importance of fast turnaround time of results,” Darji said in a statement. “The lab’s depth of experience, coupled with a simple work flow, made them the ideal partner for this initiative.”
That “simple work flow” is the crux of the deal. The PCR assay’s saliva-collection process is fast, cheap and less burdensome – mentally and otherwise – than the infamous nasal swab, making it ideal for independent pharmacies, schools and other frontline applications, according to Jeff Boschwitz, Acupath’s general manager for COVID-19 testing.
Novel coronavirus testing “will remain necessary for several more months,” the GM said Wednesday, and Acupath is ready to provide its state-of-the-art solution to myriad end users looking to “protect the unvaccinated and minimize the spread of variants.”
“Benasource is helping its member pharmacies provide additional value to their customers by offering non-invasive COVID-19 PCR testing solutions,” Boschwitz added.
