Teamwork delivers next-gen COVID-19 test

When COVID-19 first reached Australia in early 2020 it was frightening and triggered a multiplying mass of questions seemingly without answers. Scientists were already scrambling to match existing knowledge to the unfolding challenge of the pandemic.

Researchers at UTS knew they had established technology at their fingertips to help them tackle the biggest health crisis of the era. Their “toolkit” was brimming with scientific knowledge and technology, and they had a team with the talent and drive to turn their work into potentially life-saving solutions.

These were the essential ingredients to help create a highly-sensitive rapid antigen COVID-19 test being prepared for a 2022 rollout.

Called Virulizer, the mass-testing device is the result of collaboration between UTS and Western Australian company Alcolizer, supported by government.

Virulizer is a little larger than an EFTPOS machine. Saliva is collected with a swab. Any virus present is deactivated in a tube and just a few drops are applied to a cartridge containing the test strip. The cartridge goes into the meter, which will provide a positive or negative result quickly without the infamous swabs associated with early PCR tests.

It’s an example of the technology-in-waiting approach that multidisciplinary UTS research teams pride themselves on.

In fact, the partnership at the heart of the Virulizer story pre-dates the pandemic. In 2016, Alcolizer Technology joined the Australian Research Council IDEAL Research Hub, a UTS-led partnership with the University of South Australia that works with industry to develop new diagnostic devices.

A leader in drug and alcohol testing technology, Alcolizer wanted to develop new products and, in the Hub, encountered the innovative UTS researchers who would help create Virulizer.

Distinguished Professor Dayong Jin is director of the IDEAL Hub and the Institute for Biomedical Materials and Devices (IBMD). From the earliest days of the pandemic, he knew that UTS research teams had an important contribution to make: a “toolkit” of proven diagnostic technologies designed for cancer, for example.

Without the fundamental work, without the government funding, without the university’s capacity-building, this is just not possible.

- Professor Dayong Jin

Problem-solving potential

“We don’t know which tools could solve a particular problem, but we are now addicted to the tool collections,” Jin laughs. “You’re always alert and prepared for any potential opportunities. Once they come, then you are the most-ready team."

"But without the fundamental work, without the government funding, without the university’s capacity-building, this is just not possible,” Professor Jin says.

Initially, the Federal Government backed antibody testing as the preferred diagnostic tool for COVID-19. But in April 2020, it became clear that by the time antibodies were evident in a sample, the virus would have spread in the community. PCR tests – performed tens of millions of times in Australia and the “gold standard” in terms of accuracy – must be done in a lab and take hours to deliver results.

In consultation with Alcolizer, UTS researchers pivoted to focus on rapid antigen testing that delivers an accurate result in minutes as the most promising next-gen option.

Their concept deployed novel optical technology to measure the viral load in a saliva sample and display the result on a screen in under 15 minutes. The device uses a revolutionary test strip called an iStrip and lateral flow test technology, long used in home pregnancy tests.
 

Another major contributor to the project from its earliest stages was Dr Olga Shimoni. As an associate professor at UTS, a core member of the IBMD and chief investigator with the IDEAL Hub, Shimoni led a team dedicated to multi-disciplinary problem-solving.

“From Dayong Jin’s lab, it was about nanoparticle technology and a lateral flow test,” she explains. “From my perspective, it was also about biochemistry and biological interactions. So, our work came together very organically.”

Exciting results

Jin fondly recalls how the team felt at midnight on Friday 1 August 2020, when the first results from the pilot project vindicated their unique approach.

“We got excited then that the technology had the potential to be useful. When we showed this result to Alcolizer, they got excited too and they began to get more involved.”

By April 2021, work on the new test was advanced and Shimoni’s passion for product development and commercialisation led her to move to work directly for Alcolizer as Senior Scientist. She admits the task opened her eyes to the complexity of commercialisation.

"For example, as academics we make tests at a particular temperature, but when moving out of the lab where it’s a controlled temperature into manufacturing, that causes changes to our test. How do we control that? You need to think about a lot of quality control and small details that researchers don’t typically think about.”

Getting to this stage has been a big roller coaster, but I have really enjoyed every single part.

Dr Olga Shimoni

A Federal Government advanced manufacturing grant of $750,000 helped Alcolizer boost its manufacturing capabilities and support field trials.

The first trials held in Malaysia in 2021  found Virulizer could detect the virus with sensitivity previously only achieved by PCR tests and were a thousand times more sensitive than other commercially available antigen tests. An Australian clinical trial will commence in NSW in early 2022.

By mid-2022, Shimoni expects Virulizer – born, patented and made in Australia – will be delivering fast, accurate and affordable results in mass-testing environments all over the world: in airports, health care centres, aged care facilities and shopping centres.

COUNTDOWN TO A NEW COVID TEST

March 2020
World Health Organisation declares COVID-19 a global pandemic

April 2020
IDEAL Hub team pivots to adapt diagnostic “toolkit” to new COVID antigen test

August 2020
First positive results from pilot project

October 2020
Public announcement of antigen test development

April 2021
New Virulizer test product significantly advanced

November 2021
Field trials of Virulizer test technology

Mid-2022
Expected commercial release of new testing technology

Transcript

So why this virus is so contingent because our body is very slow in response to the infection. It typically takes a week before our bodies start to show the symptoms. The goal for us is to use a nanophotonics approach to detect this window, okay, before the symptoms but they're already infectious. The test mainly based on the nanoprobe technologies are these probes they are super bright and their signal can be sensitive to the single molecular level. After adding the saliva on the strip sensor we can read the optical signal by using a meter so that the proteins of virus can be detected. Unlike current conventional tests – they take the swab and takes several days to get your results - our test can deliver that result within minutes so we can detect asymptomatic and symptomatic people around … so, for, example in airports if you decided to travel you can get tested within minutes and if you're negative you can continue with your planned travel and enjoy your vacation. It's Australian innovation and together with Australian company Alcolizer we can create rapid tests for COVID-19 here in Australia.

Banner image: Members of the UTS research team (from left to right) Distinguished Professor Dayong Jin, Dr Jiajia Zhou, Dr Olga Shimoni and Associate Professor Majid Warkiani. Photo: Toby Burrows.

Key contributions were also made by

• Dr Leo Zhang, Dr Amani Alghalayini, Dr Jiayan Liao, Dr Yuan Liu, Dr Riikka Arppe-Tabbara and Dr Meysam Rezaeishahmirzadi – postdoctoral research fellows at IBMD and IDEAL Hub
• Dr Murdo Black, Chief Scientist and Dr Yinghui Chen, Scientist  – Alcolizer Technology
• Associate Professor Majid Warkiani – IBMD 
• Dr Matt Johansen and Professor Phil Hansbro – UTS/Centenary Institute Centre for Inflammation
• Professor William Rawlinson and Dr Gregory Walker – Prince of Wales Hospital.