Covid-19: diagnostic kits on the blockchain

New diagnostic kits for the identification of the Covid-19 virus fully tracked thanks to blockchain technology. It is a tool that has the task of guaranteeing laboratory operators, through the simple reading of a QR Code placed on the package, to be in possession of material in accordance with the law and from certified origin. 

This is the content of the agreement that the innovative SME EZ Lab has signed with AB Analitica, a company from Padova, Italy, specialized in the development, production and sale of diagnostic systems for professional use. It is one of the 11, of which only 3 are Italian, indicated in a report dated April 3rd of the Ministry of Health as certified manufacturers of diagnostic kits for the new Coronavirus.

“We are pleased to be able to continue a partnership with AB Analitica which we initiated a year ago, collaborating on biomarkers for personalized diagnostics in oncology. We are going to apply the blockchain to all kits, so that those who buy them will have the guarantee of their origin. We are putting our innovation at the service of healthcare professionals to give them more security, at a time when it is even more necessary to guarantee healthcare materials in compliance with standards,” explained Massimo Morbiato, CEO and founder of EZ Lab.

The blockchain traceability system provided by EZ Lab will be applied to the RQ-2019-nCoV diagnostic kit, entirely designed and produced within AB Analitica, already available on the market and supplied to the local laboratories that perform diagnostic and screening tests. 

EZLab is also a partner of IBM Food Trust, so they are probably using Hyperledger, hence more of a DLT rather than a truly decentralized blockchain.

This kit allows analyzing in about 3 hours up to 100 samples from nasopharyngeal swabs, able to extract the viral RNA, amplify it and replicate it in real-time to detect the possible presence of Covid-19 infection. It can test up to 400 samples in one working day.

“We started to develop the diagnostic system composed of instrumentation and reagents in 2012, which ended with the IVD CE Marking. At the end of February, when the epidemic arrived in Italy, we set to work on adapting it to Covid-19. At this time the demand is huge, even from abroad: we are trying to meet the orders coming from Spanish and Italian hospitals and laboratories, the most in trouble,” explained Dino Paladin, founder of AB Analytica.

The company is currently in the crowdfunding phase on the Mamacrowd platform.