Giant Step Taken In The Battle For Detecting COVID-19

To say the presence of COVID-19, or the coronavirus, has been a global disruptor would be an understatement. As the clock ticked over to midnight on New Year’s 2021, perhaps we all collectively wished for a fresh start and to leave the tumultuous past year behind like a bad dream. However, the reality is that the fight against COVID-19, and the quest to restoring economic and social prosperity is still a pressing matter — there is much work to be done.

Thankfully with the advancement of modern technology, identifying and fighting the contagious virus is less of a frenzied aimless battle, and more of a calculated game of chess. New scientific discoveries stack our side of the board with the right pieces to one day topple the ongoing pandemic with a series of checks.

Recently, this game of chess just became easier. Canadian based Sixth Wave Innovations
Inc. (CSE:SIXW, OTC:ATURF, Forum) has made progress in detecting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The company uses nanotechnology to target and extract substances using ‘Molecularly Imprinted Polymers’ (MIPs). Sixth Wave is currently developing a fast diagnostic process especially for viruses, calling them ‘Accelerated MIPs’ (AMIPs). The research team successfully created their first imprint of the virus using AMIPs this year. This imprint will undergo several tests to show its accuracy in capturing the virus, building for a fully accurate imprint of SARS-CoV-2 — known as a Definitive Imprint.

Not only is this a huge step in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is also a significant development for Sixth Wave’s AMIPs — a process with two patents already filed. As well, this is the first time the company has executed a print of a polymer for a virus.

"This is an important accomplishment in the AMIPs development cycle," Sixth Wave CEO, Dr. Jonathan Gluckman, said this week.

“More importantly, we now have an AMIPs prototype customized for SARS-CoV-2, which we can run through a battery of tests, optimizing its design with each successive imprint version,” he said.

“At the end of this process, we aim to have a Definitive Imprint with an extremely high affinity, or attraction, to [COVID-19], with clinically relevant detection levels and reliability”.

What is the point of an imprint?

Of course, COVID-19 can already be detected, as we can see with testing of the virus already taking place around the world. However, this process has a long turnaround time, and must keep up with emerging variants of the virus. A COVID-19 test typically involves an uncomfortable deep swabbing of the patient’s nose, yielding results two-to-five workdays later. Making it harder for practitioners, the virus’ identity is very different from when it hit patient zero, thanks to its rapid mutations. Variants, or strains, of the virus have emerged in England, South Africa, Brazil, and other locations. As COVID-19 cases multiply and mutate, a new and swift approach can help beat it. This is where Sixth Wave’s quest for the Definitive Imprint comes in.

"Such a Definitive Imprint, will be a powerful diagnostic tool, capable of detecting COVID-19 both quickly and accurately," Sixth Wave Lead AMIPs Researcher, Dr. Garrett Kraft, said.

“This is an important prospective advantage for AMIPs”.

“As multiple variants emerge, there is growing evidence that the evolution of [COVID-19] is making it less recognizable to identified antibodies, the utility of existing rapid immunoassay tests may also be compromised or totally invalidated,” he said.

With a successful Definitive Imprint, products can be manufactured to detect COVID-19, including handheld and wearable devices, such as the SmartMaskTM currently in development with Neocon International Inc.. The SmartMaskTM could provide the standard protective capabilities of an N95 mask, with the added interactive capability to alert the user that a target virus has been detected in the exhaled breath of the user.

What happens next?

Sixth Wave’s continued development of AMIPs and COVID-19 testing will be done through several research teams, based at: the Canadian Technology Research Institute, York University, the University of Alberta, and the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology. Validation testing of the COVID-19 imprint will start at the University of Alberta in coming weeks.

On the Canadian Securities Exchange, Sixth Wave (SIXW) last traded for CAD$0.34. Through OTC Markets, the company (ATURF) last traded for US$0.27 after enjoying an 8.83 per cent rally.

It should be noted that Sixth Wave’s MIPs and AMIPs developing process cannot yet eliminate, cure, detect, or contain COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 at this time.

The nanotechnology company is also planning a rollout for its ‘Affinity’ and ‘IXOS’ products. Affinity is a cannabinoid purification system, and IXOS uses the same polymer extraction approach to assist the gold mining industry.



FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.