A HOMEGROWN start-up is seeking funds to undertake clinical trials of its rapid Covid-19 diagnostic kits.

The start-up, nanoSkunkWorkX, claims that its Hybrid Rapid Test Kits for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2), the virus that causes Covid-19 is the “world’s first” nanotechnology-powered rapid diagnostic kits.

The kits use saliva samples to detect the presence of Covid-19.

NanoSkunkWorkX is founded by former NASA scientist Prof Wan Wardatul Amani Wan Salim and Massachusetts Institute of Technology-trained former Wall Street energy trader and investment banker, Iqbal Shamsul.

Wan Amani is also the first Malaysian to launch a NASA satellite to space.

Speaking to The Malaysian Insight, she said with a simple strip modification and firmware update, the test kits can be used for a host of other purposes.

This includes testing for the presence of bacteria, biological weapons, environmental pollutants, glucose and others.

However, the firm is in need of funds to proceed with clinical trials.

“Most of the work is funded by our own money. We are very stretched,” said Wan Amani, who is also the firm’s chief technologist and scientist.

The firm has plans to patent the invention – but it will require funding to develop intellectual property and to obtain regulatory approvals from the Health Ministry and US Food and Drug Administration.

“We presented this idea at the first Covid response call during the first phase of the MCO to the Covid-19 joint secretariat, comprising of the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (Mosti), Health Ministry and Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC),” said Wan Amani who is now attached to the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

“We still haven’t received any funding,” she added.

The proposal, she said, is still under evaluation.

“First it was reviewed by NanoMalaysia, which escalated this to Mosti Sandbox (also known as the National Technical Information Service sandbox),” she said.

“As of now, we have not received any funding even though we have been accelerated under the Green Lane,” she said.

According to the NTIS’ website, applicants will have to obtain funding from the ministry, government agencies or government-owned companies, to be considered for the Green Lane.

However, she said the team could not afford to continue to wait as the matter is urgent and of international interest.

NanoSkunkWorkX’s proposal was chosen as one of the 15 finalists under the Health Security and Pandemics category for MIT’s Solve Global Challenge.

It was among the 90 solutions shortlisted across six categories for the challenge which offers a prize money of US$2 million (RM8.3 million).

MIT received 2,600 submissions from 135 countries.

“MIT Solve was quick to accept our solution and we were chosen as the finalist for the Health, Security and Pandemic Call,” she said.

Asked if there are plans to mass produce the test kits in the future, Wan Amani said this will depend on the availability of funds.

The firm might opt to outsource the manufacturing process to a licensed third party or manufacture the product themselves.

The test kits are designed to be pocket-friendly and targeted to cost less than US$1 per unit.

It is portable, scalable, fool-proof, and has a fast processing time to detect SARS-Cov-2.

The project was developed by Wan Amani’s team in collaboration with IIUM.

It aims to reduce dependence on the widely used reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test kits.

“We aim to make RT-PCR obsolete for the Covid-19 war by doing away with the reliance on vulnerable and expensive imported reagent supplies, as well as labour-, energy-, and resource-intensive and immobile molecular diagnostics facilities.”

NanoSkunkWorkX is a Malaysian “deep-technology” start-up which focuses on delivering radical nanotechnology-driven innovations in healthcare, energy, and advanced materials to solve global-scale problems by bringing together experts in science and technology, as well as business, strategy and finance. – September 14, 2020.