Phylagen Launches Phylagen Surface™ to Easily Detect the Virus Causing COVID-19

SAN FRANCISCO, July 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Phylagen, an award-winning biotech company specializing in decoding the environmental microbiome for indoor safety, today announced the national availability of its Phylagen Surface™ SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) test kit. Designed to be used by anyone on any surface, Phylagen Surface™ provides an early indication of outbreaks in shared spaces including nursing homes, schools, hospitals, restaurants, offices and retail shops.

"Surface testing can help curb the spread of COVID-19 but it needs to be accessible," said Dr. Jessica Green, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO, Phylagen. "Taking temperatures, wearing masks, social distancing, and testing symptomatic people isn't enough; we need methods to identify asymptomatic spreaders, too. We've made Phylagen Surface™ user-friendly for the general public at an accessible price point so it can be part of the critical safety measures public spaces are adopting right now."

Led by Dr. Jessica Green, a founder in the field of indoor environmental microbiology at the University of Oregon, Phylagen has been building the world's largest environmental microbiome database since the company launched in 2015. With the coronavirus outbreak, Phylagen quickly converted their highly specialized technology into an easy-to-use product. In addition, by digitizing the genetic data contained in every surface sample, Phylagen uses artificial intelligence to build predictive technology that can anticipate a virus outbreak before it even occurs.

"Our economy can't bounce back until we can safely get everyone back indoors," said Dr. Harrison Dillon, co-founder, Phylagen. "A positive surface test in a business or school provides lead time to mitigate a spreading event. Phylagen Surface™ makes this critical technology available widely."

During beta testing, Phylagen Surface™ SARS-CoV-2 was successfully deployed in multiple global manufacturing facilities, retail shops and medical offices. Alongside the availability of Phylagen Surface™, Phylagen also released a whitepaper supporting its indoor COVID-19 research. In one example, both before and after cleaning, Phylagen found SARS-CoV-2 on a variety of unlikely surfaces, including underneath a locker room bench and the top of a vending machine, both of which are not high-touch areas. The testing indicated that current cleaning measures were ineffective and the company required more thorough and targeted cleaning. These findings emphasize that sampling infrequently touched surfaces, which are exposed to respiratory droplets, may be a faster way to detect an outbreak than individual human COVID-19 testing. Additional details about the technology, research and beta findings can be found in a new whitepaper (download here). 

Phylagen Surface™ test kits come with individual swabs, a paired phone app and simple instructions so the test can be easily used in a variety of high and low-touch surfaces. Phylagen analyzes the swabs and provides all data in an online portal. The product is now available for purchase starting at $399 for a ten swab kit.

About Phylagen
Phylagen analyzes the microbiome of built spaces, providing organizations with an unprecedented, data-driven view into safety, traceability, claim-accuracy and more. Phylagen's internationally recognized team of scientists are pioneering the field of environmental genomics. By turning dust into data, Phylagen provides crucial insights that have been hidden until now. Phylagen works across a number of industries, from retail to government to transportation, helping organizations of all sizes achieve increased levels of safety and transparency. Learn more about Phylagen Origin™ and Phylagen Surface™ at Phylagen.com.

SOURCE Phylagen

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