The organization based in Lodi among the partners of the CORONADX project whose aim is the development of three portable and easy to use systems for coronavirus diagnosis
06 Apr 2020
Press releases
CORONADX, one of the projects funded by the European Union’s research and innovation programme in the context of the coronavirus emergency, has been launched. The aim is to develop new and rapid tools for the on-site diagnosis of COVID-19, helping to make the response of the health system even more effective and ensuring fewer people in quarantine.
The new virus originated in Wuhan in China and has spread to 114 countries with an increasing number of cases, so that on 11 March 2020 the WHO declared the spread of COVID-19 a pandemic. In this context, the EU’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme activated an emergency call to support the health community in the fight against the coronavirus, supporting 18 research projects aimed at developing vaccines, ways to slow the pandemic and more effective diagnosis. Sensitive, specific and rapid diagnostic tests not only pave the way for appropriate treatment, but also play a critical role in preventing the transmission of infectious diseases and containing the total number of infected individuals.
CORONADX aims to develop portable and easy-to-use systems for the rapid diagnosis of COVID-19.
Three tools are planned, of which the fastest will provide results in less than a minute and the slowest in less than an hour.
The diagnosis obtained quickly, thanks to the elimination of the transport of samples to central laboratories, allows the immediate treatment of positive patients without having to wait for test processing times. In addition, thanks to the portability of testing systems, which can be adopted outside hospitals, screening will be possible where it is needed, such as trains, stations or airports, allowing fast and relevant surveillance procedures.
The project, supported by the EU through a €3 million call for proposals, is coordinated by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and managed by a consortium of eight leading scientific research partners, including the ICONS Foundation in Lodi, which will specifically address the communication activities related to the project.
