Visby Medical Inc. secured $12.3 million in funding from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop a next generation device to detect influenza and COVID-19 in a single point-of-care rapid PCR test and, subsequently, as an over-the-counter test for consumer use. The contract may be extended up to a total of $48.7 million over a period of 38 months based on meeting certain milestones in the base period, according to Visby Founder and CEO Adam de la Zerda.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has inked a definitive agreement to acquire Mesa Biotech Inc., a privately held molecular diagnostics company with a point-of-care (POC) platform, for approximately $450 million in cash. The scientific instruments and testing giant said it will pay an additional $100 million in cash upon the completion of certain milestones. The planned acquisition will expand Thermo Fisher’s franchise of diagnostic test options with a novel platform that enables nucleic acid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing at the point of care.

Lexagene Holdings Inc. started a series of studies for submission to the U.S. FDA for emergency use authorization (EUA) for its point-of-care system and adaptable COVID-19 assay. The open-access technology enables rapid configuration for new COVID-19 variants.

TORONTO – Waterloo, Ontario-based health startup Kenota Inc. has raised $9 million in series A funding to develop an in-clinic allergy test that takes less than 30 minutes and requires only a few drops of blood from a mild finger prick. This brings the total investment to $11 million for a point-of-care system that detects antibodies signaling allergies to egg, milk and peanuts and that will eventually search out environmental allergies to bee stings and shellfish.

Clinics, urgent care centers, busy hospitals, and patients can count on Hemoscreen, a miniaturized point-of-care hematology analyzer made by Pixcell Medical Technologies Ltd., to provide accurate complete blood count (CBC) results, according to a study published in the Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine. The study found the small unit better differentiates between cells and adapts to inference than conventional laboratory blood analysis.

PERTH, Australia – Gbs Inc. reported filing an initial public offering on the Nasdaq for $20 million, as the company looks to launch the first noninvasive SARS-Cov-2 test. A subsidiary of Sydney-based The Iq Group Ltd. (NSX:IQG), Delaware-based Gbs has developed a biosensor platform that enables real-time diagnostic point-of-care (POC) tests, and the funds raised will enable the company to launch its SARS- CoV-2 test and a saliva glucose test.

Lumos Diagnostics Holdings Pty. Ltd. scooped up AU$25 million (US$17.9 million) in an oversubscribed pre-IPO ahead of its anticipated 2021 listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). The funds will be used to expand manufacturing operations in California and Florida and to grow the commercial footprint of Febridx, a rapid point-of-care (POC) test that can determine if a person has a viral or bacterial infection within 10 minutes.

TORONTO – Health Canada has approved a portable COVID-19 test kit which began as a testing regime for identifying pathogens, microbes and viruses in the European food and natural products industry. The Hyris Bcube developed by Guelph, Ontario-based Songbird Life Science Inc., in partnership with London, U.K.’s Hyris Ltd., is described as a portable DNA-based “laboratory in a box” for coronavirus testing in large urban spaces as well as more remote, indigenous communities in Canada’s north.

Detectachem Inc. has scored an emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. FDA to market a new molecular RNA test kit for SARS-CoV-2 that provides color-coded results in about 30 minutes.