March 19, 2020 01:18 UTC

ROCKVILLE, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 20/20 BioResponse, a business unit of 20/20 GeneSystems, Inc. announced today that it will begin taking orders for its CoronaCheck ™ COVID-19 Rapid Antibody Test Kit. (The test is intended to identify persons having an immune response against SARS-CoV-2.) The company’s action follows discussions with officials from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) this week after the agency’s March 16 Guidance issued to “expand the number and variety of diagnostic tests” as the “severity and scope of the current COVID-19 situation around the globe necessitates greater testing capacity than is currently available.”

The test kits are rapid chromatographic immunoassays (configured like a home pregnancy test) to detect IgM and IgG antibodies to COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 in blood, which is the cause of COVID-19. IgM antibody generally begins to rise within 1 week of initial infection. IgG appears about 14 days after infection. According to the March 16 FDA Guidance, antibody blood tests of this nature are “less complex” than the nucleic acid testing that the CDC and laboratories throughout the U.S. have been running since the start of this emergency.

Advantages of these types of tests, approved by the Chinese FDA and compliant with medical device regulations in Europe, include the following:

Rapid results (under 15 minutes)

Accurate: High sensitivity (~97%) and specificity (~92%)

Well-validated on numerous cohorts in China

CE approved and widely used in many European countries

Whole blood testing likely remedies some false negatives inherent in respiratory swab samples

Low cost

Ease of use; no need for laboratory personnel, equipment or sample transport

Can be easily mass produced to over 200,000 per day

CoronaCheck was evaluated in China using 760 clinical samples. In this cohort, 286 samples were confirmed positive. Our manufacturers report a sensitivity of 97.2% and specificity of 92%.

Furthermore, in a soon to be published manuscript from a group of over 20 medical practitioners who were on the front lines fighting the corona virus outbreak in China, (including Wuhan), the physicians concluded that IgM / IgG rapid tests "have great potential benefit for the fast screening of COVID-19 infections and it has already generated tremendous interest and increased clinical usage after a short time testing in Chinese hospitals."

20/20 will immediately make this test available to U.S. based public health providers, hospitals, urgent care centers, and occupational health providers, especially those serving first responders. It will also request from FDA an Emergency Use Authorization to make these kits available to consumers through retail and internet purchase.

Please refer to www.CoronaCheckTest.com for product details, updates, and ordering information. (More than one product configuration may be offered; features and performance may vary slightly among configurations.)

About 20/20 GeneSystems:

20/20 GeneSystems, Inc. (www.2020Gene.com) is a Rockville, MD based company focused on innovative diagnostics and detection products. In addition to the company’s blood tests for early cancer detection (www.OneTestforCancer.com), 20/20 has also commercialized its patented BioCheck® detection kit to help fire departments and other emergency response organizations screen suspicious powders. (www.BioCheckInfo.com).

Important Notice the Regarding Regulation A Offering and Forward-Looking Statements

20/20 is offering securities under a qualified offering statement. You may obtain a copy of the offering circular that is part of that offering statement through this link. For more information about 20/20’s securities offering and to learn how to invest visit https://www.startengine.com/2020-gene-systems.

The information set forth in this document includes statements, estimates and projections with respect to our anticipated future performance and other forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may”, “might”, “will”, “should”, “expect”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “predict”, “potential”, “future” or “continue”, the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements are based on current plans, estimates and expectations and are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements, estimates and projections are based upon various assumptions that we made concerning our anticipated results and industry trends, which may or may not occur. We are not making any representations as to the accuracy of these statements, estimates or projections. Our actual performance may be materially different from the statements, estimates or projections set forth below based upon a number of factors, including those contained in the Risk Factor section of the offering circular described above. We are under no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements to conform them to actual results or revised expectations.

20/20 is offering securities using an Offering Statement that has been qualified by the Securities and Exchange Commission under Regulation A. The Offering Statement may be downloaded at the 20/20 offering page at the equity crowdfunding portal https://www.startengine.com/2020-gene-systems.

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