New Brunswick, NJ – Middlesex County in partnership with RUCDR Infinite Biologics (RUCDR), RWJBarnabas Health, and Accurate Diagnostic Labs (ADL), are on the forefront of innovation in the fight against COVID-19, offering for the first-time a saliva-based test to the community on a mass scale. Introduced recently by RUCDR and ADL, this saliva test, newly approved by the Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA), is a breakthrough that will accelerate not only the volume of testing per day but provide results in 24-48 hours. Middlesex County – with its advanced infrastructure and operational capabilities, deep workforce and talent pool of healthcare professionals, as well as key partnerships including cutting-edge life sciences companies and healthcare providers – is uniquely positioned to provide the resources to immediately mobilize and manage a drive-through testing environment. Starting Wednesday, April 15, Middlesex County will be the first county government in New Jersey to provide this new test widely in a drive-through setting and at no cost to local first responders and residents.
“We are proud of our deep partnerships with RUCDR and Accurate Labs as well as RWJBarnabas Health, who have been on the frontline of this fight against COVID-19 in New Jersey. Middlesex County has built the operations and infrastructure from the ground up to enable us to utilize our extensive partnerships to provide innovative solutions to our community of first responders and residents. Thankfully we have a rare advantage in such a critical time to be able to rapidly deploy increased testing capabilities and accelerated results, while protecting our frontline workers,” said Middlesex County Freeholder Director Ronald G. Rios.
“We believe our state-of-the-art drive-thru model can set a benchmark for testing that can benefit the State and other counties, as we all look for ways to better safeguard our communities in this crisis,” continued Director Rios.
“As the world faces a dire shortage in testing supplies, RUCDR is bringing forth a game-changing response to dramatically increase testing of patients, offering both time and cost efficiencies. With this breakthrough, we have the ability to track and trace infected individuals faster, ultimately mitigating the spread of COVID-19. Moreover, the sheer volume of specimens to be collected will aid in the development of a vaccine and new therapies. For this reason, our partnership with Middlesex County is pivotal for our ongoing research as mass testing via a drive-thru setting will generate the samples that will provide more accurate and timely information in curtailing the spread of COVID-19,” said Andrew Brooks, PhD, COO and director of technology development, RUCDR Infinite Biologics.
The new saliva test developed by RUCDR and Accurate Diagnostic Labs has several significant advantages over the nasal or throat swab test, which include:
| · 100% accuracy in predicting presence of SARS-CoV2 COVID-19 when compared to currently available swab testing | · Simple method of collection (spit and seal) |
| · Less Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) required for collection | · Expedited test results (24-48 hours) |
| · Reduced exposure and risk to healthcare personnel | · High through-put of specimens, potentially up to 10,000 tested per day |
| · Improve staffing requirements as multiple types of healthcare professionals can be used for supervised sample collection | · Non-invasive, pain-free procedure for sample collection |
“Accurate Diagnostic’s capabilities, steeped in a tradition of offering the latest diagnostic technology offerings, is proud to expand our relationship with a local, world-renowned institution in RUCDR Infinite Biologics and now with our own local government, Middlesex County. Together we can deliver the necessary COVID-19 testing at a much broader scale throughout the County, particularly to our front-line health care workers, first responders, and residents by utilizing these new collection and testing methods,” said Accurate Diagnostic Labs CEO, Rupen Patel.
“RWJBarnabas Health continues to work with our partners at Rutgers University and with Middlesex County government, as we are all searching for pioneering solutions to help combat the COVID-19 disease. In this context, we are pleased to be the first health system to receive and deploy the new saliva-based test innovated by RUCDR in partnership with ADL. This advance will directly benefit our greater community that will now be able to access faster and more accurate testing results, to bring us closer to restricting the spread of COVID-19,” said Barry H. Ostrowsky, President and CEO, RWJBarnabas Health.
The saliva testing method is based on a Nobel Prize-winning laboratory technique that makes millions of copies of the SARS-CoV-2 virus nucleic acid (in this case RNA) in a sample. This test is being offered through FDA EUA#200090 and can be found at: https://www.fda.gov/media/136876/download. The new method will revolutionize testing capabilities nationally.
Saliva tests will be available at Kilmer Vehicle Inspection/ Driving Testing Center, a COVID-19 drive-thru testing facility located on 33 Kilmer Rd, Edison, NJ 08817, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Middlesex County residents that have symptoms and would like to be tested, should visit Middlesexcountynj.gov/COVID19testing to register and receive a time to report to the testing site. Registrants must bring the completed registration form and proof of residency including, but not limited to: a valid driver’s license; state issued identification; or two pieces of mail including utility bills, bank statements, or similar documentation with name and address, to the testing site.
For more information and resources on COVID-19, please visit Middlesexcountynj.gov/covid19.
For press only: to arrange interviews and on-site tours of the drive-through facility, please contact min.kim@co.middlesex.nj.us.
