Roche and Pfizer have launched a collaboration in the U.S. to help those who test positive for COVID-19 find the best resources for the best possible outcomes.
Starting just in time for a potential winter surge in cases, Roche’s Pilot COVID-19 At-Home Test has added a QR code that connects the user to Pfizer’s COVID-19 website to get more information about COVID-19, including guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on further testing and treatment options.
Pfizer currently markets the COVID vaccine Comirnaty and a new bivalent booster as well as the antiviral drug Paxlovid. Though neither company aims to directly link to each other's products, clearly using Roche's test to send people to Pfizer's site will, the pharma hopes, indirectly up the knowledge and use of its COVID products.
Roche's Pilot screener is a rapid antigen test that gives results in around 20 minutes and can be used from ages 2 and up. Earlier this year, they were issued through the government to help promote access to testing. The test is now available over-the-counter from various retailers in the U.S., and the hope is that early detection of the virus will lead to a quick intervention with less strain on the healthcare system.
According to the CDC, nearly nine out of 10 people are struggling to understand and access personal and public health information because it contains unfamiliar or complex terms. The stated goal of this collaboration is to simplify and improve access to COVID information.
“Empowering patients to take appropriate action following a positive test result remains critical to reducing spread of the virus and lowering rates of severe infection,” Roche Diagnostics CEO Thomas Schinecker, Ph.D., said in a release. “This exciting initiative may serve as a foundation for future collaborations in many other countries worldwide.”
The test uses qualitative detection of the nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-2 in anterior nasal swab samples. According to the release, in a prospective clinical study, the test offered a relative sensitivity of 93.2% (95% CI: 81.8% to 97.7%) and a relative specificity of 100% (95% CI: 96.7% to 100%). The study was conducted on 158 samples.
Since the start of the pandemic, Roche has sold more than 1.8 billion COVID-19 tests worldwide including lab-based molecular diagnostics and antibody tests.