RHINOSTICS Inc. announced that Safeguard DNA Diagnostics, Inc. (SDDI) will standardize Covid-19 collections across its laboratories in the Philippines, using the Rhinosticsᵗᵐ dry collection swabs.

Safeguard DNA Diagnostics currently operates laboratories in Metro Manila, Davao and Negros Occidental.

Rhinostics is a Harvard spinout company launched to bring new materials and designs for improved sample collection for Covid and broader non-Covid respiratory testing. Based on the laboratory needs and physician requests, Rhinostics offers different solutions:

The GrooveSwab™ Nasopharyngeal Swab combines the ability to do a nasopharyngeal collection with polypropylene materials and a standard breakpoint. Patients comment on the increased comfort of collection with the swab, while laboratories take advantage of the dry transport, sample concentration and assay performance.

The Rhinostics Standard Nasal Swab provides is based on the same polypropylene materials in a caterpillar collection head and easy snap breakpoint. These swabs provide the same benefits of comfortable collection, dry transport, and sample concentration with the flexibility to use a standard collection tube.

The RHINOstic™ Automated Nasal Swab brings novel polypropylene materials to collection, which provide comfortable collection, dry transport, sample concentration, and the ability to automated decapping and providing rapid, automated accessioning of 96 samples at once. These innovative swabs reduce the need for manual decapping.

Paul Jochico, co-founder and director of Safeguard DNA Diagnostics, Inc., commented, “We are excited to bring the Rhinostics’ innovative sample collection swabs to the Philippines, to offer our people a more comfortable collection combined with strong assay performance. The dry swabs are more robust and offer lower risk for contamination during collection and transport than VTM and saliva collection devices. Continued Covid testing will help keep more people safe until vaccinations can become widespread in the Philippines.”

George Aaron, chief executive officer (CEO) and chairman of Safeguard Biosystems, the joint venture partner in SDDI, remarked, “The opportunity to repurpose our molecular microbiology laboratory in Manila provided significant benefits to the people of the Philippines during this unfortunate pandemic. Safeguard remains committed to bringing innovative products for the diagnosis of infectious disease into SDDI’s operations.”

“We could not ask for a better partner to implement our collection swab technology in the Philippines, bringing the newest technology for dry collection, transport and assay performance to the country. SDDI remains an innovator in the diagnostics space in the Philippines, bringing the newest technologies to market, said Cheri Walker, chief executive officer of Rhinostics.