DetectaChem team members presented the veterinary college’s Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab with a $20,000 donation. Pictured above in the front row (left to right) are: Katie Gaffney, Courtney Powell, Dr. Jerry Saliki and Emily Cooper. In the back row (left to right) are: Dr. Akhilesh Ramachandran, Chris Gaffney, Travis Kisner and Dr. Carlos Risco.

Oklahoma Veterinary Diagnostic Lab receives Donation from DetectaChem

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

The Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (OADDL) at Oklahoma State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine recently received a $20,000 donation from DetectaChem.

Based in Texas, DetectaChem is a privately held company and manufacturer of rapidly deployable, handheld, intelligent, and easy-to-operate detection systems. Specifically, OADDL worked with DetectaChem last year in the development of the company’s rapid COVID-19 test kit, which received emergency use authorization (EUA) by the FDA for COVID-19 testing in humans.

“OADDL has a great team and has been integral in the fight against COVID through large scale testing and validation. They have worked tirelessly and we definitely appreciate the partnership,” said Travis Kisner, chief operating officer, on how OADDL assisted his company.

DetectaChem partnered with OADDL in the summer of 2020 to run validation testing for the MD-Bio BCC19 Test Kit. The kit is a 30-minute isothermal molecular assay that detects the presence of SARS-CoV-2. The validation testing done at OADDL helped DetectaChem achieve FDA EUA approval.

Since the kit received authorization, it has helped the specific market of high volume COVID-19 testing with quick turnarounds. The kit contributed and was instrumental in helping universities have in-person classes, the Super Bowl halftime show and other sporting events to perform with a sense of security, costly rocket launches to avoid delay, multiple movie sets to continue with filming, correctional facilities to operate as needed, and many other examples of getting the world safely back to normal, with rapid and accurate testing.

All of these achievements can be linked back to the original validation testing that was done by OADDL, a hard-working savior in the fight against COVID-19 during this pandemic through mass testing and the validation of the DetectaChem COVID-19 test platform.

Kisner along with his team members Courtney Powell, Chris Gaffney and Katie Gaffney visited OADDL last week to continue technical and development discussions with Dr. Jerry Saliki, OADDL director, and his team on how OADDL can assist DetectaChem with extending the company’s detection technology to animal diseases.

“The partnership with DetectaChem provides a great opportunity for OADDL to contribute its expertise towards the development of diagnostic test kits, some which could be implemented at OADDL to enhance its diagnostic capabilities,” Saliki said.

OADDL is a member of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network and performs diagnostic tests for targeted surveillance programs and emergency response testing for foreign animal diseases including: Avian and Swine Influenza Virus, Avian Paramyxovirus-1, African Swine Fever, Classical Swine Fever, and Foot and Mouth Disease Virus. During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, OADDL was approved to run COVID-19 testing on human samples and handled a significant portion of Oklahoma’s testing until September 2020.