RADX TECH - TALIS BIOMEDICAL HIGHLY SCALABLE SARS-COV-2 RNA DETECTION IN MINUTES

NIH RePORTER · NIH · N02 · $9,750,000 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

With over $100M investment by the top biotech Venture Capital funds, NIH, CARB-X, and DARPA, Talis has developed ultrafast, sensitive, scalable technology uniquely suitable for COVID-19 testing.  The Talis technology performs rapid (as fast as 6 minutes) purification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from large volumes of human specimens including swabs and saliva and detects SARS-CoV-2 RNA in under 5 minutes for high positives and under 10 minutes near the limit of detection (~10 copies/reaction).  Talis will deploy this technology in a high-throughput format for laboratories (Talis HT) and at the point-of-care (POC) for minimally trained users (Talis One).  With RADx support, Talis will scale this technology in three stages: (1) In June, to accelerate throughput of the currently installed diagnostic equipment, Talis will deliver reagent kits for rapid SARS-CoV-2 detection in 96-well format.  (2) In July, to further increase testing throughput, Talis will launch automation solutions for common diagnostic laboratory platforms, making kits for 4 million tests available.  (3) In September, Talis will launch its rapid COVID-19 Talis One POC test on a multiplexed cartridge, expandable to include influenza. Operated by a compact Talis One instrument, this cartridge enables fully automated, sensitive SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in under 20 minutes.  Talis HT and Talis One will be adaptable to mobile testing for rapid response contact tracing, worker screening, and outbreak response. Talis is requesting RADx support to scale up and accelerate  manufacturing of tests and will commit significant funds for cost-sharing.

Key facts

NIH application ID
10505994
Project number
75N92020C00010-P00001-9999-1
Recipient
Principal Investigator
JENNIFER BALDWIN
Activity code
N02
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2021
Award amount
$9,750,000
Award type
Project period
2020-07-30 → 2021-07-29