Competition? Sparta Secures Agreement to Provide COVID-19 Antibody Testing to Trucking Industry
Friday, August 7, 2020, 8:00 AM ET
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CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / August 7, 2020 / Sparta Group (TSXV:SAY) (the "Corporation" the "Company", "Sparta Group", "Sparta Capital" or "Sparta") has signed a distribution agreement with SBL Technologies Incorporated ("SBL"), paving the way to supply fast COVID-19 antibody testing and analysis for truckers who are putting their lives at risk every day.
In a July 16, 2020 news release, Sparta announced that its "TruckSuite(TM) Canada division had assembled an exclusive, symbiotic suite of COVID-19 safety tools to assist the trucking industry". As an important component of that suite, "COVID-19 testing for truckers" was to be added; and thus, this agreement becomes the cornerstone of the testing program.
With headquarters in both Calgary and Austin, Texas, SBL is a well-established provider of on-site rapid testing technologies and support tools to help employers manage risk and maintain worker safety. SBL's COVID-19 Antibody Rapid Test can determine whether a person has contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus and is actively producing IgM antibodies. In addition, it can indicate if a patient who may have previously contracted the virus and has since recovered, still has the disease-fighting IgG antibodies in their system. The rapid antibody tests can provide valuable information for contact tracing, which can pinpoint who else is at risk of infection, on-site, within fifteen minutes.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sparta will be able to start distributing the FDA Emergency Use Authorized ("EUA") COVID-19 Antibody Rapid Test Kits to truckers in the United States and will have full access to support from SBL, including laboratory testing and training on administration and interpreting results. Additionally, Sparta will have access to a dedicated mobile reporting App so that results can be monitored anywhere in real time and can be further integrated into the additional tracking Apps being assembled as part of the TruckSuite(TM) safety tools.
"The Antibody Rapid Test Kit is part of our TruckSuite(TM) division's COVID-19 Safety Program and can be very helpful when addressing front line workers like our truckers. With an industry as large as trucking, that employs more than 8.7 million workers across America, it really helps to be able to gather data so that we can improve strategies to curb the COVID-19 pandemic and make sure that truckers on the frontlines are safe. SBL is known for providing high quality tests to enterprise companies across a variety of industries, such as the energy, mining, manufacturing and agriculture sectors. We are pleased to be working alongside them as we now expand into the very important transport vertical." said Sparta President, John O'Bireck.
The suite of COVID-19 safety tools will be branded through the company's TruckSuite(TM) division, which was originally designed to look after the health of trucks but given the unusual times we are living in, has been extended to the health of truckers as well. On July 23, 2020 Sparta also issued a news release announcing a licensing agreement to distribute and co-develop a package of nanotechnology formulations aimed at killing harmful pathogens on the drivers and in their cabs. The Antibody Rapid Test Kits are an equally important part of the Sparta trucker safety program.