ams selects Extra Horizon to power innovative point-of-care cloud solution for its lab-quality, spectral sensor-enhanced Lateral Flow Test solution to help fight COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2)

Today, ams (SIX: AMS), a leading worldwide supplier of high-performance sensor solutions, announces that it has chosen the high-performance cloud infrastructure developed by Extra Horizon to power a range of innovative point-of-care, spectral sensor-based solutions that harness the full power of digital health. Particularly in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic where fast and accurate testing is crucial to safeguarding public health, ams and Extra Horizon's connected sensor solution and the highly accurate and efficient point-of-care tests it enables, together offer a unique response to a global problem.

An extra weapon in the fight against COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of highly accurate and secure rapid testing and instant data availability, particularly when that data is critical to developing and managing lockdown strategies. The combination of the ams spectral sensor and Extra Horizon's connected solution pave the way for a range of digital point-of-care tests, including extremely fast and highly accurate lateral flow (immuno assay) tests. In fact, a full production line for SARS-CoV-2 antibody digital rapid tests has already been inaugurated as a result of the technology. Moreover, the proven capabilities of Extra Horizon's global platform ensure a wide geographical reach. This means the results of those tests can be processed securely, reliably and in real time, up to millions at a time ? all the while ensuring full compliance with local data processing regulations, including GDPR for handling sensitive data.

"Governments and authorities need to enable fast, reliable and effective testing with the results available through a fast, secure and GDPR-compliant medical-grade cloud solution. Extra Horizon offers best-in-class GDPR-compliant medical-grade cloud solutions through their deeply proven expertise in medical cloud," says Pierre Laboisse, Executive Vice President Global Sales and Marketing, ams. "The company's professional expertise in developing customized solutions, leveraging an extensive backbone knowledge, makes it an ideal partner for this important undertaking. We hope that this solution will eliminate complicated logistics and clinical processes and streamline approaches to mass testing and effectively become an essential tool in the effort to help control the pandemic and resume the many economic and social activities that comprise what we call normal life."

Driving the digital transition of IVD technologies

The combination of ams' advanced optical spectral sensor and Extra Horizon's powerful, secure and medically compliant mobile application and cloud connectivity services cover the full spectrum of requirements for third-party in vitro diagnostics (IVD) providers, enabling them to accelerate the development of digital health solutions and take them to market faster. The simple yet highly accurate and objective design of ams' optical readout module and its built-in spectral sensor make it suitable for testing a wide range of biomarkers of potential relevance in a point-of-care setting, including lateral flow tests. This not only enables improved testing procedures but also cost-effective production, even at high volumes.

Lars Grieten, CEO Extra Horizon: "This global partnership is a powerful demonstration of how state-of-the-art health tech sensors can be enhanced with digital infrastructure to deliver point-of-care testing solutions both in the professional and home environment. Rapid testing will become more relevant in our digitized future. And by enabling critical decisions to be taken faster, it is already providing much needed support for managing the COVID-19 crisis."

An easily replicable formula

The software component of the point-of-care sensor solution is powered by Extra Horizon's robust and fully compliant backend solution. The platform relieves the burden of regulatory compliance and reduces investment risk, providing companies with the technical framework and complementary services they need to build sophisticated medical applications with greater speed, flexibility, scalability, and reliability.