Featured Project: Team of Leiden students develops a virus test kit to prevent potential pandemics

Name: Virus testkit Rapidemic
Purpose: Preventing potential pandemics
Intended result: Development of a working test kit that can be rolled out quickly in the event of a potential pandemic
Partners: iGEM Team Leiden
Status: Prototype in development; possible patent application

If we want to prevent a new virus becoming a potential pandemic, setting up a testing program at an early stage is essential. With this in mind, a Leiden team consisting of students from different disciplines is developing a virus test kit that can be quickly applied to new respiratory diseases.

In November, the team will participate in iGEM, an international competition for biotechnology students in which more than 6,000 students take part. Medical Delta is one of the financial sponsors of the team.

A complete testing laboratory in a small box

The intention is that the test kit, called "Rapidemic", consists of a small box with which a healthcare professional can perform a test in a short time and with minimal costs. It is, as it were, a mini laboratory where different techniques come together. The only thing missing from the test kit is a so-called "DNA primer" specific for a virus. The idea is that as soon as a new virus emerges, its DNA primer is added to the kit and the test is immediately ready for use. Once complete, the test kit tells within an hour and possibly even sooner whether someone is infected. This is done with a color signal, comparable to a pregnancy test.

The aim is to make this simple concept easy to use for a healthcare professional. The test kit that is under development is self-contained, requires no electricity and works independently of expensive test equipment in an external laboratory. It could therefore be used all over the world - including developing countries or remote areas. Once developed, the kit - apart from the DNA primer - is complete and can be put into production and stocked immediately, so that governments can deploy it quickly in the event of a virus outbreak and thus contain the outbreak.

Many steps are still needed before Rapidemic can actually enter the market, but the first hurdle has been taken: the team dived into the lab last summer and developed a working proof of concept.

Interdisciplinary composition advances the team

The students' concept is a point-of-care test that is similar to the PCR test and detects viral DNA or RNA. The test detects almost instantly genetic material that can be used to determine the presence of a specific virus. Testing with Rapidemic is therefore considerably faster and cheaper than the PCR test, which is currently common used for corona tests, while in theory achieving the same high reliability margin. “We are still in the research phase and of course further research is still necessary, but the first lab tests are very promising,” says team manager Eugene Golov. The team is guided by both scientists from Leiden University and IDE Group, a company that previously worked on a point-of-care HIV test.

The advantages of the interdisciplinary composition of the team, consisting of bachelor and master students from various Leiden and (partly) TU Delft programs such as Biomedical Sciences, Biology, Chemistry, Life Science & Technology and Molecular Science & technology, soon came to light. “It ensures that there is always someone on the team who has specific knowledge and it promotes creativity enormously. An interdisciplinary team certainly gives an advantage during research,” says Golov. “For the iGEM competition it is important that a research project has social relevance and links up with various stakeholders. Because of our different backgrounds, each team member brings his or her network and so we are able to speak to many experts, virologists and companies. In this way we ensure that our concept is in line with healthcare practice.”

Market introduction as the ultimate goal

The ambition is to develop the proof of concept into a working prototype. Because lab materials cost a lot of money, a crowdfunding campaign is currently underway. “New tests are being developed all over the world. So far we have not seen a similar test kit, so we are looking at whether we can apply for a patent, ”says Golov. The ultimate dream of the team is that the test kit will eventually be available on the market. “A concept such as this could provide a solution for especially the more remote areas of the world. After developing a prototype, we want to see whether we can actually put it on the market with help of the university and with companies that help us.”

But before that, the team first submits its project for the international iGEM competition. On 22 November it will be announced whether the efforts made have resulted in a prestigious award.