Partnership expands access to Gauss’s proprietary, EUA-pending COVID-19 rapid antigen test that can be self-administered at-home with results processed on a smartphone within minutes. Ro will complement the cash-pay test with support of healthcare practitioners through its telehealth platform.
NEW YORK (PRWEB) JANUARY 13, 2021
Ro, the healthcare technology company, and Gauss, the healthcare AI company, today announced a partnership to offer Gauss’s smartphone-powered, at-home COVID-19 rapid antigen tests through Ro’s vertically integrated primary care platform upon Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Emergency Use Authorization. This strategic partnership, which marks the first between Gauss and a direct-to-patient healthcare company, expands access to Gauss’s reliable, easy-to-use COVID-19 tests that produce results within minutes and, for the first time, includes the support of a nationwide network of healthcare providers.
Ro will begin nationwide distribution of Gauss’s tests upon Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of the test from the FDA, which is actively reviewing Gauss’s EUA application. Utilizing its nationwide network of healthcare practitioners and pharmacy distribution centers, Ro will deliver the tests to patients’ homes and make healthcare providers available to patients who may have questions related to their test results.
Zachariah Reitano, Co-Founder and CEO of Ro, said: “COVID-19 testing remains critical to thwarting the ongoing pandemic, but the traditional testing options put unnecessary burdens on patients and providers: the tests are difficult to access, take too long to deliver results, leave patients without support as to next steps related to their results, and may expose healthcare providers to infected patients. We’ve partnered with Gauss, a leader in healthcare AI, to deliver an end-to-end COVID-19 testing experience that is reliable, can be completed at home within minutes, and includes access to healthcare providers who can help patients understand what comes next. Bringing together Gauss’s innovative testing technology and our vertically integrated primary care platform, we will enable people nationwide to more quickly and easily find out their COVID-19 status and keep themselves and their communities safe.”
The test, which Gauss developed in partnership with Cellex, Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in rapid diagnostics, is powered by an encrypted, HIPAA-compliant, easy-to-use smartphone app developed by Gauss’s team of clinical and technology leaders. It is the first rapid COVID-19 test that can be fully performed using only a smartphone and a simple lateral flow paper test, and without involving a laboratory or any additional electronics. According to results of a clinical trial submitted by Gauss to the FDA, Gauss’s test demonstrated a 94.4% positive percent agreement and 99.2% negative percent agreement compared to a high sensitivity, EUA-authorized PCR test.
To complete the test, patients will follow step-by-step video instructions in the Gauss app to correctly collect a nasal swab sample and perform the rapid antigen test. Within about 15 minutes, the app will prompt the user to scan their rapid test with their smartphone and then will process the image using computer vision and artificial intelligence. The app will inform the user if the test result is negative or positive for SARS-CoV-2 antigens within seconds.
Siddarth Satish, Gauss Founder and CEO, said: “We believe that distributed, widespread testing for COVID-19 will be vital in the months ahead, and will drive a paradigm shift in diagnostic testing. Our immediate goal is to ensure that our at-home, self-administered rapid antigen test is accessible to as many people across the country as possible upon Emergency Use Authorization. Ro’s vertically integrated nationwide platform makes it the ideal partner to help us advance that goal. Because Ro’s platform seamlessly integrates a network of physicians with a pharmacy fulfillment operation, Ro is uniquely ideally suited to deliver our test to patients, whether it is approved for prescription or over-the-counter use.”
Patients will be able to order the at-home tests through Ro’s digital health clinics, Roman or Rory. Ro will ship the test directly to the patient’s door.
Visit covid.ro.co/waitlist for more information.
