Carolina Liquid Chemistries Adds Another COVID-19 Test To Lineup

Greensboro diagnostics and drug screening company Carolina Liquid Chemistries has added another COVID-19 test kit to its product line.

CLC says it’s now selling the FaStep COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test Device, made by Chinese manufacturer Assure Tech, (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd. The test was recently given an emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The company says it’s the first antibody test intended for use in point-of-care settings such as doctor's offices, hospitals, pharmacies, urgent care centers and emergency rooms rather than having to be sent to a central lab.

CLC already offered two real-time RT-PCR (reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction) tests that detect nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2 in people who have contracted the coronavirus. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19. Those diagnostics can identify the macromolecules in nasal and throat swabs and sputum. But they are authorized for laboratory use only.

CLC also supplies ultra-thin nasal and throat swabs and other viral transport media that stabilize viruses and prevent microbial contamination during the transport of clinical specimens.

CLC founder and CEO Philip Shugart notes that his company has been sourcing and manufacturing diagnostic test kits for over 25 years. “It made sense for us to leverage our product sourcing capability to fill this need in the healthcare supply chain,” he said.

Shugart founded CLC in 1994. He’s a native North Carolinian who began his career with medical device manufacturers Coulter Electronics and Beckman Instruments. Shugart received the North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2014.