Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is credited with the phrase,”Never let a good crisis go to waste.”
While the COVID-19 pandemic has been not only been fatal for some people, it has also been killing some businesses while at the same time opening the doors for others businesses. Governor J.B. Pritzker’s PathGroup company might be a business that could stand to make a profit from this situation.
- Pathgroup provides COVID tests
- Pathgroup owned in part by Pritzker Group
- Cue Health is also owned by Pritzker Group
- Cue Health received a $13 million government contract to develop a portable COVID test
According to PathGroup’s website:
Effective today, April 27, 2020, PathGroup is pleased to announce the availability of serologic testing for SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen associated with COVID-19. This new test is for the detection of human IgG
antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in serum or plasma.
The virus, which can cause mild to severe respiratory illness, was first identified in Wuhan, China, and has now spread globally. It is mainly transmitted through respiratory droplets and can also be
transmitted through surface contact.
Blood-based serology testing may assist in the identification of persons who have previously been exposed to the virus and developed an IgG immune response. SARS-CoV-2 IgG antiviral antibodies may be detected in the serum and plasma samples of infected patients 7–10 days after infection. Serological tests may be used as an adjunct to clinical presentation and history in the assessment of patients who may have been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 virus or seroconverted following COVID-19 infection.
Cue Health awarded $13 million government contract to develop portable, point-of-care COVID-19 test
March 31, 2020
San Diego, CA (March 31, 2020) – Cue Health Inc. (“Cue”), a healthcare technology company, announced that is has been awarded a $13 million contract to accelerate the development, validation and FDA clearance of a portable, molecular diagnostic test capable of detecting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in less than 25 minutes using a simple nasal swab. The test is part of the Cue Health Monitoring System, which is designed to be a portable device that can perform a molecular test and connect patients to a mobile health platform that features interventional components such as telemedicine consultations.
The funding was awarded by BARDA, part of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The funding will enable Cue to accelerate the development and validation of its molecular COVID-19 test, paving the way for its scale-up to facilitate on-the-ground management of this pandemic cycle and prepare for similar infectious disease outbreaks in the future……
And This Letter to Clients:
March 2020
Dear Valued Client:
It goes without saying that we are all facing unprecedented times in the face of the current COVID-19 epidemic. Like you, PathGroup is an essential component of the U.S. healthcare system and we remain fully operational to support the laboratory testing services of you and your patients.
The U.S. laboratory services system is facing never-before seen demand for testing with the requests for COVID19 tests. The demand is far outpacing capacity throughout the system, due in large part to a national shortage of COVID-19 reagents and test kits from the leading manufacturers that have received FDA clearance to produce COVID-19 test components. As such, turnaround time for COVID-19 testing from all commercial laboratories currently exceeds both provider and laboratory expectations.
PathGroup is working diligently to evaluate all options available – now and in the foreseeable future – to better align turnaround time with the needs of healthcare providers. PathGroup is prepared with equipment and personnel to begin offering testing in-house as soon as reagents and kits become available from manufacturers. To assist in managing the current backlog of tests and subsequent extended turnaround time, we ask that you bfollow the CDC guidelines for identifying patients most appropriate for testing:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/index.html
