FidaLab Announces Partnership With Ginkgo Bioworks to Scale COVID Response Through Pooled Testing in K-12 Schools

SEATTLE, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, FidaLab, a CLIA-certified clinical diagnostic company based in Seattle announced its partnership with Concentric by Ginkgo to provide a scalable and simple testing modality - pooled testing - to serve K-12 schools.

As more and more schools work to support in-person learning environments, communities across the country have turned to COVID-19 testing to monitor the virus. Even as teachers and guardians become eligible for vaccines, clinical vaccine trials for individuals under 16 are just beginning, and efforts to track and mitigate viral spread remain critical.

Concentric by Ginkgo's goal is to provide easy, affordable pooled testing to every school in America. Pooled classroom testing, which combines swabs from all consenting individuals in a classroom and runs them as a single test can significantly increase testing capacity and lower the cost of testing programs. Over 800 hundred schools are currently signed up to test with Concentric across the country.

"We are excited at the prospect of joining Ginkgo to provide mass COVID testing in schools to help maintain in-person learning environments in Washington. Ginkgo has proven itself in successfully implementing school testing programs in the State of Massachusetts, Maryland, and beyond. The combination of our local testing capability and Ginkgo's experience and organizational strength will provide a very reliable option for Washington school systems," said Myles Yu, Chief Medical Officer of FidaLab.

On February 17, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in partner with the Department of Defense (DOD) has announced a $650 million investment to expand COVID-19 testing capacity for K-8 schools to support President Biden's plan to re-open schools for in-person learning.

"The funding provided by the Biden Administration will help make it possible for schools in Washington and across the country to engage in pooled testing for every student, every week," said Jason Kelly, CEO and co-founder of Ginkgo Bioworks. "Testing in schools will support the entire community by providing opportunities to limit the spread, and to interrupt chains of transmission."

FidaLab joined the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic at the very beginning and has built massive PCR testing capability for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. FidaLab has provided mass testing in collaboration with large scale county testing, schools, long term care facilities, athletic teams and more.

To learn more about Concentric by Ginkgo or to get your school district involved, head over to concentricbyginkgo.com.

About FidaLab

FidaLab is a privately owned CLIA-certified clinical laboratory based in Seattle with a specialty in molecular diagnosis of infectious diseases using cutting edge biotechnologies. With its proven diagnostic accuracy and 24-hour turnaround time, FidaLab has earned the trust of the communities it serves.

About Ginkgo Bioworks

Concentric by Ginkgo is Ginkgo Bioworks' public health and biosecurity effort. Headquartered in Boston, Ginkgo uses the most advanced technology on the planet—biology—to grow better products. The company's cell programming platform is enabling the growth of biotechnology across diverse markets, from food to fragrance to pharmaceuticals. Ginkgo is also actively supporting a number of COVID-19 response efforts, including community testing, epidemiological tracing, vaccine development and therapeutics discovery. For more information, visit www.ginkgobioworks.com.

Ginkgo Bioworks Contact:

[email protected]

FidaLab Contact:

[email protected]

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SOURCE FidaLab LLC