SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – When you are in public, it is virtually impossible to tell who is immune to the coronavirus and who is sensitive.
A company in San Diego is trying to change that by developing two new COVID-19 monitoring systems that are as easy as controlling the forearm.
Diomics is developing a device that resembles a nicotine patch that the company says can detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in 24 to 36 hours. The patch is intended to last one to two weeks, and offers people a way to check their infection status – and potentially view it – according to CEO Anthony Zolezzi.
When the patch, named Diocheck, detects antibodies circulating in the blood, it turns red.
“We think this is an integral piece to get things back to normal,” Zolezzi said. “This can make the country function again and make us comfortable that the people around us are not infected.”
A second device, made from thousands of tiny polymer beads, can be injected into the skin and offer COVID supervision for six months to a year, Zolezzi said. The company is still testing how long the test can remain active before it is safely absorbed by the body.
The company plans to launch clinical trials at UC Irvine next month.
Zolezzi suggests that the tests would be useful to employees in various sectors, including the aerospace industry, the cruise industry, the gambling sector and the military, and offer a new way to infect and quarantine individuals.
Once a vaccine for coronavirus has been released, the tests could be a useful guide, he said, as it would likely take a few weeks to develop protective antibodies after inoculation. For example, an individual wearing the patch could find out when they have antibodies circulating in the blood.
The tests could also show when a person begins to lose antibody. Studies have shown that individuals with a mild coronavirus infection lose antibodies after a few months, and it’s just that vaccines require multiple doses.
“This patch will show you when the color disappears, it’s because your antibodies are dispersed,” Zolezzi said. “That’s the time you need to get an impulse, or some kind of prophylaxis.”
The small biotech company with less than 20 employees uses technology that is more than 100 years old.
In 1907, a French doctor named Charles Mantoux developed an injection test for tuberculosis that produces an increased, red spot on the skin when the bacterium is detected. This is the standard test given today.
“All we do is modernize,” Zolezzi said. The slow-release patented material enables much longer surveillance, he added.
Diomics created skin care, wound care and diabetes products before the pandemic shifted the company’s focus. Their components are individually FDA approved, but will require new approval for this use, Zolezzi said.
Zolezzi said production is underway, but the company hopes to partner with a major drugmaker to scale up production quickly. Their goal is to have products on the market by the end of the year.
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