Covi-Read – Development of a rapid and portable microfluidic test dedicated to the detection of SARS-CoV-2

Since the outbreak of Ebola, in 2014, MMN-ESPCI and CIBU-PASTEUR have worked together to develop a portable test, dedicated to the detection of nucleic acids of pathogens, viruses and bacteria, exploiting the latest developments of microfluidic paper technology and molecular diagnostics. Together, we published three papers and delivered one patent. Since then, the collaboration ESPCI-PASTEUR has been very active.

Recently, we succeeded to demonstrate a portable system, based on LAMP-QUASR (Loop Amplification coupled to a sensitive detection of the amplicons) in which RNA extraction is performed, amplified, the product of the reaction being detected with a smartphone. Important to note, all the components of the reaction are lyophilized, minimizing the number of pipetting steps and enabling storage at room temperature.

Since February 2020, we work at applying our technology to the detection of the SARS-COV2 virus. Our technology will allow to perform millions of decentralized tests, with a minimum of equipment, thus accessible to medical offices, small labs or small clinics, with a 45 min response, sensibility and specificity comparable to PCR, with no need to send the sample to medical laboratories equipped with expensive PCR machines.

The objective of the proposal is to develop our effort on this technology on the very short term (visualization, heating, performances, various optimizations…)