Veritas Announces Launch of EduSafe Pooled PCR Testing with Automatic Follow-Up For K-12 Schools, Childcare Centers and Summer C

DANVERS, Mass. , April 22 /Businesswire/ - Veritas today announced EduSafe, the streamlined, user-friendly COVID-19 testing solution that K-12 schools, early education centers, and summer camps need. Utilizing a proven in-lab pooled PCR protocol vetted by educators, early childhood specialists, and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, EduSafe facilitates safe in-person learning by quickly and easily identifying COVID-19 positive individuals at a significantly reduced cost, as low as $5 per individual test.

PCR is the gold standard for COVID-19 testing, and in-lab pooled PCR testing makes it available in a simple and cost-effective manner. Samples from multiple individuals are collected on an individual basis, combined at the lab into a pool, and run as a single pooled test, significantly reducing costs. If a pool tests negative, all individuals in the pool are negative, and no additional testing is needed. If a pool tests positive, follow-up testing is automatically performed at the lab on the individual samples that were included in the pool; this identifies the actual COVID-positive individual or individuals in the pool. There is never a need to go back and obtain additional samples.

EduSafe makes pooled PCR testing easy. Its features and benefits include:

• In-lab pooling; allows identification of COVID-positive individuals within a pool to happen automatically, without the need to collect additional samples.
• Using a saliva-based system, samples can be self-collected by children as young as age 4.
• User-friendly software platform that makes test registration, sample transportation, testing, and reporting results seamless and simple.
• Real-time customer support, for immediate answers when you need them.

“We find the Veritas solution leading in so many ways. Their process is simple and super easy to set up and use. And their quick turnaround of results shared through an easy-to-access portal makes the whole process stress-free,” says Binal Patel, Chief Program Officer at Neighborhood Villages, a nonprofit organization advocating for early education and care systems change.

Ongoing COVID-19 testing of students and staff provides critical data on the effectiveness of COVID-mitigation efforts, helping staff and families feel more comfortable with in-person learning. It also facilitates data-driven quarantining decisions that allow more students to stay in person at school. Whether at the state, district, or school level, Veritas works in partnership with stakeholders to determine the best testing approach for their community.

The same benefits being achieved by K-12 schools can be experienced by early education centers and summer camps.

Veritas is a fully integrated CAP/CLIA-certified, high complexity molecular diagnostic laboratory specializing in COVID-19 testing, consumer genomics, and pharmacogenomic testing. The company is listed in the Rockefeller Foundation’s K-12 National Testing Action Plan and has been selected as a vendor for the statewide pooled PCR testing program for K-12 schools in Massachusetts. Veritas has extensive expertise and success in COVID-19 testing programs nationwide at the college and university level as well as with assisted-living facilities, ski programs, pharmacies, and businesses. In partnership with the Yale School of Public Health (SalivaDirect™) protocol, Veritas aims to expand the availability of COVID-19 testing to schools across the nation.

EduSafe is now available at $50 per pool; pools range from 5-10 samples. Follow-up testing is $25 per sample.

For more information and to set up a call visit veritasgenetics.com/covid-19-edusafe.

About Veritas, The Genome Company

Veritas is an industry leader in making testing accessible and frictionless. Founded by genomics leaders from Harvard Medical School and MIT including Dr. George Church, the company operates actively in over 30 countries and has received multiple awards including CNBC’s Disruptor50, MIT Technology Review’s 50 Smartest Companies, and Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies.

Information about SalivaDirect™

SalivaDirect™ has not been FDA cleared or approved. It has been authorized by the FDA under an emergency use authorization for use by authorized laboratories. The test has been authorized only for the detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2, not for any other viruses or pathogens. This test is only authorized for the duration of the declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of emergency use of in vitro diagnostic tests for detection and/or diagnosis of COVID-19 under Section 564(b)(1) of the Act, 21 U.S.C. § 360bbb-3(b)(1), unless the authorization is terminated or revoked sooner.

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