Vancouver-based Victory Square Health has acquired assets and intellectual properties from Brazilian company Safetest Comércio de Diagnósticos for $4 million CAD.
Safetest has developed a rapid antibody test that identifies the COVID-19 virus. The test is performed with one drop of blood, similar to a glucose measurement test, and takes between five and 15 minutes to complete. Safetest plans to submit its application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Canada, and the European Union.
“We are very proud to be part of fighting this pandemic and support Canada’s and all other countries’ efforts to make rapid and accurate testing available to all citizens,” said Shafin Diamond Tejani, CEO of Victory Square Technologies, which owns Victory Square Health.
Victory Square Health was established in 2016, and focuses on building, acquiring and investing in promising startups developing solutions in personalized health technologies. The subsidiary began by supporting companies that have an initial focus on the management and prevention of diabetes.
RELATED: Health Canada expedites approval of 1QBit chest radiography AI tool to help fight COVID-19
Over the last few years, Victory Square’s Tejani has been looking to build up Vancouver’s tech ecosystem, launching a $75,000 fund to help launch a girls’ tech camp at Simon Fraser University and committing $10 million to children’s charity initiatives in British Columbia.
“We are finishing the clinical validation with 400 samples with impressive and promising preliminary results indicated by 100 percent sensitivity and 99.5 percent specificity,” said Felipe Peixoto, co-founder and CEO of Safetest. “Such results support our confidence that our company’s US FDA and ANVISA [the Brazilian equivalent to the FDA] applications will be endorsed shortly with approval to commercialize the tests.”
Image source Unsplash. Photo by Nico Zobrist.