Bay Area Health Trust receives Health Canada Interim Order Authorization for McMaster Molecular Medium

HAMILTON, ON, March 17, 2022 /CNW/ - Bay Area Health Trust has today announced its receipt of a Health Canada Interim Order (IO) authorization for its McMaster Molecular Medium (MMM). A temperature-stable molecular transport medium, MMM inactivates and stabilizes COVID-19 specimens from the collection site to the laboratory. More than 3 million units of MMM have already been deployed in Ontario as part of Public Health Ontario's approved list of COVID-19 PCR collection kits that contain a swab and vial with transport media, like MMM.

Receiving Health Canada's authorization is a significant milestone as it will remove time consuming validation steps for labs across the country and around the world. Health Canada's Interim Order is applied when immediate action is required to deal with a significant risk to health, safety, or the environment.

"This announcement is a testament to the capabilities of the commercialization team at Bay Area Health Trust. MMM is an example of how we commercialize innovations and return economic value back to our stakeholders" said John Hands, Director, Business Development at Bay Area Health Trust.

Bay Area Health Trust is also seeking US Food & Drug Administration authorization to enable broader opportunities within the US market.

MMM was developed by researchers from Ontario's McMaster University and The Research Institute of St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton's Disease Diagnostics and Development Group. Unlike viral transport media, it:

• Increases testing capacity by removing time consuming pre-analysis steps;
• Improves safety by lysing the virus, thereby eliminating the biohazard conditions so it cannot potentially infect a lab technician; and
• Enables temperature stable collection and transport of samples.

"This is an important milestone for Bay Area Health Trust and MMM as it enables us to bring this industry-leading innovation to more labs across the country and potentially the world. PCR testing will be integral going forward," said Peter Kalra, President and CEO of Bay Area Health Trust.

About Bay Area Health Trust

At the intersection of health, life sciences and business, Bay Area Health Trust is an example of a successful relationship between hospitals and the for-profit private sector. Operating businesses with the goal of returning value to its beneficiaries, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation and McMaster University, Bay Area Health Trust promotes entrepreneurship and invests in growth-oriented businesses to support patient care. More information can be found at www.bayareahealthtrust.com.

SOURCE Bay Area Health Trust