54gene, a health technology company, in collaboration with Wildfusion Limited, First City Monument Bank and Ogun State Government has launched its first COVID-19 mobile laboratory, a project, which is the pilot of a new solution aimed at expanding testing for coronavirus across the country.
The mobile laboratory, which was launched in Ogun State on Monday, is in addition to the recent launch of 54gene’s Nigerian COVID-19 testing fund, which was deployed to support the efforts of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) by purchasing vital testing equipment for public laboratories across Nigeria.
The 40ft structure built with container technology provides a unique plug-and-play solution that eliminates the logistics of shipping samples to another infrastructure for processing. This reduces turnaround times for test results and allows clinicians to manage and treat patients accurately, sooner rather than later.
The mobile laboratory is also fully kitted with vital instruments inclusive of an autoclave, biosafety cabinet, centrifuge, heating blocks, vortexes, pipettes, and PCR machines to support COVID-19 testing.
Speaking on the partnership for the mobile laboratory, Abasiama Idaresit, CEO, Wildfusion Limited, noted that the world is experiencing an unprecedented time with the Coronavirus pandemic, which requires concerted efforts from both government and private sector to curtail the pandemic.
The partnership is also borne out of the need for more infrastructure to support the increase in testing capacity as setting up a permanent structure requires significant manpower and an extensive period of time.
The partners also discovered that speed was of the essence, hence saw the need to increase nationwide testing capabilities, isolate positive cases and thus break the chain of transmission.
With the mobile laboratory, the partners noted that the restriction imposed by solid buildings has been removed and allowing them to offer services to multiple states quicker due to the ease of transport and the mobile capability it provides.
The environmentally friendly solution, according to them, can also be reused to serve other functions for urban spaces.
“We have also helped build capacity by equipping molecular scientists with the necessary skill set required to handle the instruments in the mobile lab as they would in regular molecular testing laboratories”, they assured.
However, the laboratory has commenced its first round of testing in Ogun State on April 27, 2020.
The project also received support from Argentil Capital Partners, Arnergy Solar Limited , and Tempohousing Nigeria.
Obinna Emelike
