Business Wire

CA-MAWI-DNA-TECHNOLOGIES

25.1.2021 15:02:12 CET | Business Wire | Press release

Share
Mawi DNA’s Extractionless Sample Collection Technology Enables BioTech Africa Launch of Affordable COVID-19 Mass Testing Platform

Mawi DNA Technologies’ iSWAB-Microbiome-EL sample collection technology enables BioTech Africa to implement and launch a new ultra-high throughput COVID-19 testing program. This breakthrough, in conjunction with the ProbeSure™ COVID-19 One Step RT-PCR Kit from 3CR Bioscience, is designed to scale up to a capacity of 200,000 tests per day.

“We are extremely proud and humbled to be part of South Africa’s fight against COVID-19 through BioTech Africa’s mass testing efforts,” said Dr. Bassam El-Fahmawi, President and CTO, Mawi DNA Technologies.

In addition, Dr. Jenny Leslie, COO of BioTech Africa, worked closely with Scilutions Labware and Hook Diagnostics to identify the best products and supplier partners who could provide reagents to streamline the testing workflow, but also scale to the projected numbers with minimal supply chain disruption.

“For the sample collection step, Mawi DNA Technologies’ iSWAB-Microbiome-EL (‘Extractionless’) product was chosen for its multiple benefits. This includes enabling direct PCR by removing the RNA extraction step along with extended room temperature stabilization of viral RNA. iSWAB technology also enables simple and efficient non-invasive self-collection, a key component of BioTech Africa’s testing strategy to encourage widespread compliance,” said Dr. Leslie. She added, “When used in tandem with the 3CR Bioscience ProbeSure™ kit, we can provide high throughput testing and faster sample-to-result turnaround time, while significantly reducing reagents, plastics and testing workflow footprint.”

“iSWAB room temperature sample collection and stabilization technology has been well validated in the field with millions of samples tested thus far,” said Dr. Bassam El-Fahmawi. He added that Mawi DNA was pleased to work with Scilutions Labware and Hook Diagnostics to deploy its products on a global scale to help alleviate the socioeconomic impact that COVID-19 brought on the world.

Hook Diagnostics CEO Simon Kratzat added, “Our mission at Hook Diagnostics is to enable affordable population scale testing. We are honored to make this a reality for BioTech Africa together with Mawi DNA, 3CR and Scilutions.”

About Mawi DNA Technologies

Mawi DNA Technologies has developed and commercialized the iSWAB technology, an innovative system for collection of biosamples. Its flagship product iSWAB-DNA has gained significant market traction due to its ability to be used for animals and all human population segments from infants to the elderly, with robust DNA yield and low bacterial DNA content. iSWAB-Microbiome has gained worldwide acceptance as a superior collection technology for COVID-19 samples. Mawi DNA has expanded its offerings to include collection technologies for intact cells and whole blood. For more information, visit http://www.mawidna.com .

About BioTech Africa

BioTech Africa specializes in recombinant protein production and bioprocessing. Driven by the global requirement for improved in vitro diagnostics, its current range of highly purified recombinant proteins are used in the manufacture of diagnostic test kits for point of care rapid diagnostics and research institutions. BioTech Africa offers a variety of protein expression platforms along with a host of other protein services, including protein refolding and structural biology analysis. For more information, visit http://www.biotechafrica.com .

About Scilutions Labware

Scilutions is an innovative manufacturer of scientific products. Through collaboration with the academic, industrial and scientific communities, its manufacturing capabilities are aligned to ensure that the company is optimized to support critical biomedical operations. For more information, visit http://www.scilutionslabware.com .

About 3CR Bioscience

3CR Bioscience is a world-leading manufacturer of innovative PCR-based reagents. Primary products, PACE™ and ProbeSure™, are used in hundreds of institutions worldwide, from small academic labs to large multinational companies. 3CR has developed the ProbeSure™ COVID-19 One Step RT-PCR Kit which combines high sensitivity and specificity with low cost and has been designed for use in real-time or high-throughput endpoint processes. For more information visit https://3crbio.com/ .

About Hook Diagnostics

Hook Diagnostics is committed to making worldwide population-scale testing faster and more affordable using only the most high quality and cutting edge tools available. For more information, visit http://www.hookdx.com .

Link:

ClickThru

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

Allianz Delivers Record Result and Is Well on Track to Achieve Its Targets7.8.2026 07:10:00 CEST | Press release

2Q 2026 This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260806509750/en/ Oliver Bäte, Chief Executive Officer of Allianz SETotal business volume at 45.6 billion euros, an internal growth of 5.7 percent1, with contributions from all segments. Asset Management delivers excellent growth. Operating profit rises 10.6 percent to a record level of 4.9 billion euros. Shareholders’ core net income at 2.6 billion euros; 12.7 percent below last year. Adjusted for a divestment gain last year and offsetting measures following the sale of the stake in our Indian JVs, underlying growth is strong at 10 percent. 6M 2026Total business volume at 98.6 billion euros, an internal growth of 4.3 percent1, driven by Property-Casualty and especially Asset Management. Operating profit rises 8.6 percent and reaches a record level of 9.4 billion euros. Shareholders’ core net income advances 15.5 percent to 6.4 billion euros. Adjusted for divestment effec

Pure Lithium Receives Australian Patent for "Lithium Metal Anode and Battery"6.8.2026 22:49:00 CEST | Press release

Pure Lithium Corporation, a vertically integrated next-generation lithium metal battery technology company, today announced that the Australian patent office has granted the company a patent (AU2025271196) titled “Lithium metal anode and battery.” Australia mines roughly half of the world’s lithium, yet has no domestic battery production at all; every battery the country uses is imported. The granted patent is directed to ways in which Pure Lithium’s technology can change that. Rather than trying to catch up in lithium-ion, Australia can leapfrog the incumbent technology and establish a next-generation industry. As worldwide demand for batteries grows, every country capable of making batteries needs to be making them. That is Pure Lithium’s central goal: opening up markets around the world through battery technology that enables local, independent supply chains, keeping pace with demand and strengthening economies. China controls the lithium-ion battery supply chain and manufactures th

Vercel Appoints Amit Agarwal, Standard Template Labs CEO and former Datadog President, to Board of Directors6.8.2026 17:00:00 CEST | Press release

The product leader who helped scale Datadog from early-stage startup through IPO brings deep product expertise to Vercel's board Vercel, the agentic infrastructure company, today announced the appointment of Amit Agarwal, former president of Datadog and founder and CEO of Standard Template Labs, an AI-first service management platform, to its board of directors. Agarwal brings 25 years of enterprise software experience and a track record of scaling a product-led company from its earliest days into one of the defining public software companies of the cloud era. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260806738617/en/ Amit Agarwal Agarwal joined Datadog in 2012 as its Chief Product Officer and was named President in 2022, overseeing product, corporate development, and go-to-market functions as the company grew past $2.5 billion in annual revenue. Across 13 years, including Datadog's 2019 IPO and its first years as a pub

Laserfiche Launches Advanced Enterprise Security to Deliver Multi-Region Disaster Recovery and GovRAMP-Ready Compliance for Highly Regulated Industries6.8.2026 16:00:00 CEST | Press release

New security suite extends Laserfiche’s proven security controls and adds near real-time data replication for governments, law enforcement and security-conscious enterprises. Laserfiche — the leading SaaS provider of intelligent content management — today announced the launch of Enterprise Security, an advanced suite of security enhancements designed for organizations navigating complex regulatory environments. Enterprise Security addresses GovRAMP and CJIS (Criminal Justice Information Services) security requirements based on the NIST SP 800-53 framework. For organizations handling privileged citizen, legal or corporate data, these built-in controls streamline audit preparation and fortify defenses. With organizations placing a higher priority on data stewardship and corporate governance, enterprise IT leaders require a security architecture that protects data without slowing down operations. Laserfiche Enterprise Security extends Laserfiche Cloud’s highly resilient infrastructure wit

AM Best Upgrades Fortegra Insurance Subsidiaries to A (Excellent)6.8.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release

Rating actions follow completion of the DB Insurance acquisition The Fortegra Group, Inc. (“Fortegra” or the “Company”), a global specialty insurer and part of DB Insurance Co., Ltd., today announced that AM Best has upgraded the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of its insurance subsidiaries to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICRs) to “a” (Excellent) from “a-” (Excellent). The outlook assigned to the ratings is stable, and AM Best removed the ratings from under review with positive implications. KBRA has also upgraded all of its ratings for the Company. The upgrade applies across Fortegra’s insurance platform. The property and casualty companies include Lyndon Southern Insurance Company, Insurance Company of the South, Response Indemnity Company of California, Blue Ridge Indemnity Company, Fortegra Specialty Insurance Company and Fortegra Europe Insurance Company SE. The life and health companies include Life of the South Insurance Co

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye