A potentially game-changing Antigen Rapid Test (ART) technology to diagnose COVID-19 has been developed by scientists in Singapore. Using a proprietary on-kit amplification technique, a person’s saliva can be self-administered or tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus at the point-of-care with sensitivity higher than current ART tests and close to that of laboratory-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

Dubbed the Parallel Amplified Saliva rapid POint-of-caRe Test (PASPORT), the technology produces results in minutes, without the need for additional equipment or specially-trained personnel.

The invention was borne out of a research collaboration between Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS)—collectively member institutes of the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre—and the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Duke-NUS and SingHealth have filed intellectual property protection for the invention, and have entered into a license agreement with Digital Life Line Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based company. The inventors hope that through close collaboration with commercial partners, the product can be out in the market as soon as possible to serve healthcare needs in Singapore and beyond.