MIT team collaborates with 3M to develop rapid Covid-19 test

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Hadley Sikes, an associate professor of chemical engineering at MIT, has been working for years with her team on the technology they’re adapting to create a Covid-19 test with rapid results. Moving beyond lab prototypes and into manufacturing the diagnostics on a large scale, however, is new territory.

3M is collaborating with the Sikes Lab to jointly develop the test, including establishing novel processes for scaling it. They will determine whether the test renders highly accurate results within 10 minutes, and if it is feasible to mass manufacture.

The National Institutes of Health selected the rapid Covid-19 test for accelerated development and commercialization support, after rigorous review by an expert panel. The test is in the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Tech (RADx Tech) program, an aggressively paced Covid-19 diagnostics initiative from the NIH’s National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

“We are excited to collaborate with Professor Hadley Sikes and the team at MIT. Our approach is ambitious, but our collective expertise can make a difference for people around the world, so we owe it to ourselves and society to give it our best effort,” says John Banovetz, 3M senior vice president for innovation and stewardship and chief technology officer. “This is another step demonstrating 3M’s leadership in the fight against Covid-19. We are seeking to improve the speed, accessibility, and affordability of testing for the virus, a major step in helping to prevent its spread.”

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