Healthcare organizations, research institutions and the whole scientific community is strongly united across the world to research the novel COVID-19 virus. One of the targets is to better understand the impact of the virus and allow us to take the appropriate actions for all populations and more specifically for populations at higher risk, which are more fragile facing the pandemic.
In this respect, and starting today, HemaXis DB10, our microsampling blood collection device, will be used in a COVID-19 Clinical Trial run by the University Hospital of Geneva (HUG), in Switzerland.
The study focuses on: “Feasibility of using a capillary blood self-sampling device for anti-SARS-CoV-2 serology and performance of serological testing in vulnerable patients (AUTO-SERO-COV)”.
“This project will have to demonstrate that the use of a capillary self-sampling device is feasible for more than 80% of the people who are among those most at risk of serious complications from COVID-19.”
“This study will also confirm that the detection performance of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG on capillary blood is good. This confirmation will be very useful in the context of the high contagiousness of this virus, in order to allow capillary blood collection at home, without exposure to contamination risks.” writes Dr. Laurent Gétaz, MD MPH PD at the HUG and principal investigator in this research.
The study is looking at individuals from the Geneva area, which have been confirmed positive for COVID-19 infection through RT-PCR with at least one of the following criteria : over 65 years of age / chronic respiratory disease / heart disease / autoimmune rheumatological disease / HIV infection (CD4<500) / active cancer / diabetes / obesity (BMI>30) and with the onset of symptoms more than 4 weeks ago, sufficient time for the acquisition of immunity and for participants to no longer be contagious.
“We are very proud and excited to play an important part in this study, where we will again demonstrate how much HemaXis DB10 is contributing in a difficult context and is helping in the fight against this totally unprecedented challenge brought upon us by this virus” says Eric Ödman, CEO of DBS System, the Swiss manufacturer of HemaXis DB10.
“We know form previous experience that our HemaXis DB10 device is perfectly suited for home sampling, as we have in the past achieved success rates much higher than the 80% targeted by this study.”
SARS-CoV-2 antibodies identification within a given population is a key step in detecting and understanding who has been contaminated by the COVID-19 and who has produced antibodies in response to the infection. This helps in bringing better solutions to patients.
The clear advantages of the at-home blood collection performed thanks to HemaXis DB10 is that people can stay in the safety of their homes, self-manage their sampling at their convenience and thus drastically reduce the risk of external contamination. The use of a dried blood matrix, also enables optimal sample quality for the analytical laboratory even after 24-48 hours depending on the postal delivery time back to the lab.
As research moves forward, we are ready and eager to help and support any healthcare organisation with interest in capillary micro-sampling blood collection solution.
For additional information, please contact us by email under info@dbs-system.ch
or by telephone: +41 78 624 70 15
and visit our website: www.dbs-system.ch or www.hemaXis.com
