BETHESDA, Md. & AUBURN, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Longhorn Vaccines & Diagnostics LLC, an innovative molecular tool, assay and vaccine development company focused on serving unmet critical needs in both developed and developing nations, and SiO2 Materials Science, a privately-owned U.S. advanced materials science corporation introducing breakthrough disruptive technology for packaging biological pharmaceuticals and vaccines, today announced a partnership to produce and distribute PrimeStore® MTM in SiO2’s proprietary 12 millimeter sample transport tubes. The transport tubes will allow large laboratories with high volumes of sample testing to pool 10 times more samples with 1/10^th of the required materials. The sample transport tubes are manufactured by SiO2 and are available now to labs for testing COVID-19, influenza, and other widespread viruses.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic virus testing has been critical to targeting new cases and assessing the impact of the virus on the global population, and has inspired labs to shift towards higher volumes of testing for both COVID-19 and future virus needs. To further support this trend, the collaboration between Longhorn and SiO2 combines SiO2’s 12 millimeter test tube with Longhorn’s PrimeStore® MTM, which is a patented, FDA-cleared sample collection system that inactivates RNA, mRNA, and DNA pathogens.

“We take immense pride in our partnerships, and our collaboration with SiO2 is no different—our companies have come together to meet the needs of virus testing today and prepare for the next pandemic,” said Jeff Fischer, President of Longhorn Vaccines and Diagnostics. “SiO2’s production capabilities are a key reason why we’re working with them; they have the ability to produce millions of tubes per month. By combining our PrimeStore® MTM liquid with SiO2’s 12 millimeter test tube, labs have the ability to test a patient for multiple viruses—one tube can be used to test a patient for COVID-19, influenza A, and influenza B at the same time.”

Beyond the ability to test multiple viruses using one tube, labs can use the test results to subtype each virus and see which strains of COVID-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and other viruses are circulating within a specific population. This will allow the U.S. government to track viral patterns to dispatch appropriate testing and virus prevention.

“We reached out to Longhorn in February because we view their sample collection technology as first-in-class when it comes to inactive sample testing. With the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine, now is the time for us to join together to offer a new solution for virus testing at high volumes,” said Lawrence Ganti, President of SiO2 Materials Science. “We can produce up to two and a half million tubes per week, so combining our manufacturing with Longhorn’s technology makes sense for the future of virus testing.”

Longhorn was able to scale its operations from 50,000 to 100,000 tubes of PrimeStore® MTM per month prior to March 2020, to weekly shipments exceeding 2 million tubes during the height of COVID-19 in the US, to help the federal government expand its testing capabilities.

For more information about Longhorn’s PrimeStore® MTM technology, visit their website at www.lhnvd.com.

About Longhorn Vaccines and Diagnostics

Longhorn Vaccines & Diagnostics is an innovative molecular tool, assay and vaccine development company focused on serving unmet critical needs in both developed and developing nations. Longhorn’s core product, PrimeStore^® Molecular Transport Medium (MTM), is a patented, FDA approved, state-of-the-art ambient temperature molecular diagnostic collection and transport device that can help governments, global health organizations and drug manufacturers improve the diagnosis and treatment of highly infectious diseases such as Influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB). Unlike standard devices for collecting and transporting TB samples, PrimeStore^® MTM is the first molecular transport device that can safely deactivate pathogens and stabilize RNA and DNA, allowing enhanced point of care and ambient temperature transport for laboratory based molecular testing and characterization. Longhorn is based in Bethesda, Maryland.

About SiO2 Materials Science

Managed by the same family for more than 100 years, SiO2 Materials Science is a privately owned U.S. advanced materials science corporation introducing breakthrough disruptive technology. The company is located in Auburn, Alabama. The company has deep partnerships with leading professors at the foremost research universities such as University of California, University of Chicago, MIT, and CalTech. For more information, visit www.sio2ms.com.

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