Acumen Diagnostics’ PCR Capabilities to Tackle Omicron COVID-19 Variant

Homegrown medical technology Company, Acumen Diagnostics Pte. Ltd. (“Acumen Diagnostics” or the “Company”), a 51% owned subsidiary of Q&M Dental Group (Singapore) and 49% owned by Aoxin Q&M Dental, today announced that its proprietary, locally-manufactured polymerase chain reaction (“PCR”) test kits Acu-Corona 2.0 and Acu-Corona Duplex are able to detect COVID-19 positive cases infected with the Omicron variant.

Dr Ong Siew Hwa, Executive Director of Aoxin Q&M Dental and Chief Executive Officer & Chief Scientist of Acumen Diagnostics said, “As the COVID-19 threat continues to evolve with the emergence of a potentially more transmissible variant, Omicron, highly-accurate and cost-effective COVID-19 testing becomes even more important to detect and help curb the spread of the virus.

With PCR tests remaining the gold standard to detect COVID-19, Acumen Diagnostics remains well-positioned to help Singapore tackle this new challenge posed by the virus, with our effective and affordable PCR test kits that are equipped to detect COVID-19 positive cases infected with Delta and Omicron, as well as our laboratory testing capabilities that can run 7000 tests daily. We will continue to contribute to national COVID-19 testing efforts to support Singapore’s safe and sustainable re-opening.”

In addition to detecting COVID-19 positive cases infected with the Delta variant, the Company’s proprietary PCR test kits are able to detect COVID-19 positive cases infected with the Omicron variant as well.

The Acu-Corona 2.0 PCR test targets two COVID-19 genes – RdRp and E, while the Acu-Corona Duplex PCR test targets the E gene and S gene. The portion of the S gene targeted by the Acu-Corona Duplex PCR test does not contain any of the 32 mutations that occurred in the Omicron variant, hence it can detect the Omicron variant without any loss of sensitivity.

This proprietary technology used in PCR test kits and laboratory testing is developed and owned by Acumen Diagnostics. Being locally manufactured, the Company’s test kits can be deployed quickly and are more cost-effective and allow for greater self-sufficiency, compared to that of its peers imported from overseas.

Acumen Diagnostics possesses deep technical capabilities and the supporting infrastructure in molecular diagnostics, spanning R&D, manufacturing, and clinical laboratory testing, with 2 laboratories that are able to process 7000 COVID-19 diagnostics tests daily.