27 December 2021 - - Taipei-based mobile health company iXensor Co., Ltd's (6734.TWO) computer vision-powered PixoTest COVID-19 Antigen Test effectively detects all major SARS-CoV-2 variants including Omicron (B.1.1.529) after completing two validation studies, the company said.

In response to emerging new waves of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by Omicron across the globe, iXensor has conducted in-silico analysis followed by a laboratory validation using the recombinant protein of the Omicron variant.

The in-silico study evaluated the amino acid sequences of N protein wild type and the Omicron variant (P13L, E31del, R32del, S33del, R203K, G204R), concluding that Omicron is detectable by PixoTest COVID-19 Antigen Test.

Furthermore, in the recombinant protein study, PixoTest achieves the same limit of detection (0.25ng/ml) on those variants of concern as on the original wild type of SARS-CoV-2 used as a control.

Both study results affirm that the PixoTest COVID-19 Antigen Test can detect the latest Omicron variant effectively in addition to the previous confirmation on SARS-CoV-2 Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), Gamma, Delta (B.1.617.2).

Most importantly, the sensitivity of PixoTest COVID-19 Antigen Test is not affected by the Omicron and other Variants of Concern.

Although vaccines have become widely available, Omicron has a higher chance of causing breakthrough infections and fundamentally changing the landscape of the pandemic across the globe.

Rapid tests that cannot detect the Omicron variant make for a worrying prospect because false-negative results could potentially lull people into a false sense of security.

In 2017, iXensor introduced the PixoTest Blood Glucose Monitoring System as the world's first US FDA-approved smartphone camera-based blood test.

Based on the PixoTech platform, iXensor has ventured into at-home self-testing and clinical point-of-care diagnostics across infectious diseases, women's health, diabetes, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.