21 October 2020 - - The US state of Minnesota has opened new COVID-19 saliva testing lab in Oakdale, Minnesota.

The lab is part of a collaboration with Vault Health, the developer of an at-home and on-site COVID saliva testing platform, and IBX, the developer of the saliva test.

The Infinity BiologiX COVID saliva lab will have the capability of processing up to 30,000 samples a day when operating at full capacity and will employ up to 250 Minnesotans.

This saliva testing program with Vault Health and IBX, which has contributed to a 65% increase in testing in the state since September, includes the creation of up to 10 semi-permanent testing sites across Minnesota, a mail-order program which will launch a pilot later this month, and the creation of the Oakdale lab. Initially, the lab will process tests only from the semi-permanent sites running across the state.

Testing will increase as more semi-permanent sites open, the mail order program expands, and other organizations decide to contract with the State to utilize the testing capacity.

The lab will reduce shipping time by allowing samples to be couriered from collection sites in the state instead of being shipped to the IBX lab in New Jersey.

Funding for the lab was reviewed by the Legislative Advisory Commission and comes from the federal CARES Act.

Infinity BiologiX is a market-disrupting next-generation central laboratory. It collaborates with, and provides services to researchers and organizations in both the public and private sectors, including sample collection and processing, storage and analytical services, and scientific and technical support in both the research and clinical arenas.

The company was previously RUCDR Infinite Biologics before spinning off from Rutgers University-New Brunswick in August 2020.

Vault Health is a performance healthcare technology platform designed to help men through specialized in-home treatments for better health.

Vault helps men overcome shortcomings in existing healthcare offerings through extensive education, professional medical evaluation, and personalized treatment.

At the onset of COVID-19, Vault Health shifted focus and joined in the effort to address the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate testing with the first FDA-authorized saliva test for men, women, and children.