BD Announces Collaboration for At-Home Rapid Test for COVID-19

Aims to Pair BD Antigen Test with Scanwell Health Mobile App

On Feb 22, 2021

Global medical technology company BD (Becton, Dickinson) and Scanwell Health, a leader in smartphone-enabled at-home medical tests, announced a collaboration to create an at-home rapid test for SARS-CoV-2 using a BD antigen test and the Scanwell Health mobile app.

As part of the collaboration, Franklin Lakes-based BD plans to produce a lateral flow antigen test and pair it with the Scanwell Health mobile app. The app is expected to provide step-by-step instructions on how to collect and transfer a nasal swab sample and use the mobile device’s camera to analyze and interpret results. The test result will be displayed onscreen, and the companies are also planning to develop functionality to assist in automated reporting to public health agencies. This approach is intended to provide an efficient and scalable rapid antigen home testing solution.

“Testing at home before going out into the public is a critical safeguard to help stop the spread of COVID-19,” said Dave Hickey, president of Life Sciences for BD. “BD and Scanwell Health are bringing the best of our innovations together to develop a reliable test with a convenient and simple user experience. We see the development of an at-home lateral flow rapid antigen test as a complementary solution to our best-in-class BD Veritor™ system.”

Stephen Chen, founder and CEO of Scanwell Health said, “Partnering with an industry leader like BD creates a unique opportunity to help millions of people test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the safety and comfort of their homes. Scanwell’s innovative computer vision technology closely mirrors that of point-of-care and laboratory diagnostic systems. We’re excited to leverage our experience in building FDA-cleared apps to bring this solution to market.”

BD has been on the forefront of the COVID-19 response providing innovative solutions for immunology research, molecular- and antigen-based diagnostics, devices that aid in therapeutics and injection devices for vaccine administration.

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