Astrotech Subsidiary and Cleveland Clinic Partner to Develop a Rapid COVID-19 Breath Test
October 20 2020 - 4:00PM
Business Wire
Non-invasive technology is planned to use
breath samples to screen for COVID-19 or related indicators
Astrotech Corporation’s (NASDAQ: ASTC) subsidiary, BreathTech
Corporation announced today that it has signed a joint development
agreement (JDA) with Cleveland Clinic to explore leveraging
Astrotech’s BreathTest-1000™ mass spectrometer to rapidly screen
for COVID-19 or related indicators. The goal of the agreement is to
develop a non-invasive device that will use breath samples to
identify COVID-19 strains, with the potential to provide a
low-cost, self-service screening option that could be deployed on a
large-scale.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201020006202/en/
Researchers from BreathTech and Cleveland
Clinic will work together to further develop the Company’s
BreathTest-1000™ mass spectrometer. (Photo: Business Wire)
Raed Dweik, M.D., Chairman of Cleveland Clinic’s Respiratory
Institute, will lead the Cleveland Clinic team. Dr. Dweik and his
research team were some of the first to identify that unique
volatile organic compound (VOCs) metabolites in the breath can be
used to detect certain diseases. Cleveland Clinic researchers have
successfully identified and published studies regarding the unique
metabolites associated with asthma, heart failure, pulmonary
arterial hypertension and liver disease.
“Each person has a unique breathprint made up of thousands of
exhaled compounds, which can tell physicians a lot about what’s
happening in the body. The advantage of breath testing is that it
is non-invasive and non-intrusive. It does not have a dose
limitation like x-rays, an amount limitation like blood or saliva
tests, or a timing limitation like PCR, blood and urine tests. So
breath testing can be performed repeatedly as needed,” said Dr.
Dweik. “This technology has the potential to make COVID-19 testing
more accessible and rapidly available as well as to guide critical
therapeutic decisions.”
COVID-19 is spread through droplet transmission between
individuals and contaminated surfaces, with the virus remaining
viable for several days on certain materials. Most individuals
infected with COVID-19 experience mild to moderate respiratory
symptoms. However, vulnerable populations and individuals with
co-morbidities are at risk for acute respiratory distress syndrome
with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Additionally,
asymptomatic carriers have the potential to spread the disease
rapidly in high density areas. Thus, the ability to rapidly and
accurately identify individuals infected with COVID-19 is an urgent
unmet clinical need.
Researchers from BreathTech and Cleveland Clinic will work
together to further develop the Company’s BreathTest-1000™ mass
spectrometer to include COVID-19 or related indicators within its
detection library. The mass spectrometry based device will be
developed to detect metabolites associated with respiratory disease
and can potentially screen patients within as little as
approximately 60 seconds. The joint team plans to open a clinical
trial with the technology in the coming months.
“We are pleased to announce that we have entered into this
partnership with a highly experienced respiratory disease detection
group. Dr. Dweik and his colleagues have successfully led many
clinical trials applying mass-spec to identify unique metabolites
using the breath. Over the past months, both teams have evaluated
and explored a framework to collaborate in the development of the
BreathTech technology at Cleveland Clinic and believe that our
mass-spec technology has potential to play an important role in
providing a quick, non-invasive, easy-to-use screening device that
can be utilized in hospitals, nursing homes, schools and airports
in an effort to get all of our lives back to normal again,” stated
Thomas B. Pickens III, CEO, and CTO of BreathTech.
About Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical
center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and
education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by
four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding
patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion
and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical
breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the
first face transplant in the United States. U.S. News & World
Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation’s
best hospitals in its annual “America’s Best Hospitals” survey.
Among Cleveland Clinic’s 67,554 employees worldwide are more than
4,520 salaried physicians and researchers, and 17,000 registered
nurses and advanced practice providers, representing 140 medical
specialties and subspecialties. Cleveland Clinic is a 6,026-bed
health system that includes a 165-acre main campus near downtown
Cleveland, 18 hospitals, more than 220 outpatient facilities, and
locations in southeast Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Toronto, Canada;
Abu Dhabi, UAE; and London, England. In 2019, there were 9.8
million total outpatient visits, 309,000 hospital admissions and
observations, and 255,000 surgical cases throughout Cleveland
Clinic’s health system. Patients came for treatment from every
state and 185 countries. Visit us at clevelandclinic.org. Follow us
at twitter.com/CCforMedia and twitter.com/ClevelandClinic. News and
resources available at newsroom.clevelandclinic.org.
About Astrotech Corporation
Astrotech (NASDAQ: ASTC) is a science and technology development
and commercialization company that launches, manages, and builds
scalable companies based on innovative technology in order to
maximize shareholder value. BreathTech is developing a breath
analysis tool to provide early detection of lung diseases.
Astrotech is headquartered in Austin, Texas. For information,
please visit www.astrotech.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are
made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking
statements are subject to risks, trends, and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to be materially different from the
forward-looking statement. These factors include, but are not
limited to, the severity and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and
its impact on the U.S. and worldwide economy, the timing, scope and
effect of further U.S. and international governmental, regulatory,
fiscal, monetary and public health responses to the COVID-19
pandemic, whether we can successfully complete the development of
our new products and proprietary technologies, whether we can
obtain the FDA and other regulatory approvals required to market
our products under development in the United States or abroad, and
whether the market will accept our products and services, as well
as other risk factors and business considerations described in the
Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings including the
annual report on Form 10-K. Any forward-looking statements in this
document should be evaluated in light of these important risk
factors. In addition, any forward-looking statements included in
this press release represent the Company’s views only as of the
date of its publication and should not be relied upon as
representing its views as of any subsequent date. The Company
assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements,
except as required by law.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201020006202/en/
Andrea Pacetti, Cleveland Clinic 216-316-3040,
Pacetta@ccf.org
Eric Stober, Astrotech (512) 485-9530
Astrotech (NASDAQ:ASTC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Astrotech (NASDAQ:ASTC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024