Innovative partnership to produce hundreds of thousands of comprehensive specimen collection kits weekly.
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Two South Carolina-based companies are teaming up to address the national shortage of COVID-19 testing kits. CPT Medical, a surgical pack and kit manufacturing firm that specializes in viral transport media (VTM), and Hoowaki LLC, the developer of a first-of-its-kind injection molded nasopharyngeal swab with large-scale production capability, have announced a dynamic, new partnership. Hoowaki is providing their NP Collection Swab with Hoowaki MICROGRIP® technology to CPT Medical to be packaged along with CPT Medical’s VTM. These kits will be used by healthcare systems and laboratories across the country. Both the VTM and Hoowaki NP Collection Swab are FDA-registered products and organizations and are produced to strict CGMP guidelines.
A recently published Harvard study [link] indicated that up to 20 million COVID-19 tests will be needed per day by the end of summer 2020 to adequately meet demand and flatten the disease growth curve. By the end of July, 200,000 kits will be produced weekly.
“Quality specimen collection supplies are a crucial component in ensuring that access to testing is available, as there is currently a critical shortage in the nation’s supply chain,” said Kevin Murdock, founder of CPT Medical. “We are very excited to partner with Hoowaki, and proud that our new kits will be made right here in Greenville, SC.”
Each specimen collection kit packaged by CPT Medical includes their VTM and the Hoowaki NP Collection Swab. CPT Medical has become a top producer of the CDC recommended VTM since adding its production to their long-standing manufacturing of customized surgical kits, packs, and standard procedure trays. Currently producing 100,000 tubes of VTM per week, they expect to increase that number to 200,000 per week within a month’s time.
Hoowaki, a specialist in microsurface technologies and friction solutions with a 12-year track-record of innovation, adapted its existing technologies to develop the NP Collection Swab. The swab has the advantage of being produced on existing injection molding equipment, enabling production on a scale not currently available with other swabs. The swab’s micro-pillars are shown in clinical user tests to meet existing industry-standard products for flexibility and performance. In independent laboratory testing (RT-qPCR Assay) the swab has also been proven equivalent to the industry-standard flocked filament swabs in the collection of patient RNA that is critical for COVID-19 testing.
According to Ralph Hulseman, president of Hoowaki, “Hoowaki ran toward the challenge of COVID-19 because we understood the power and versatility of our friction-based surfaces and recognized how they can improve our communities. Friction helps our swab easily collect and securely store a patient’s RNA specimen until it can be placed into a VTM—that’s why we are so excited to work with CPT Medical. It’s a partnership based on solving the big challenge of meeting testing demand nationwide.”
As part of the partnership, Hoowaki is selling hundreds of thousands of NP Collection Swabs to CPT Medical weekly to be included in the specimen collection kits along with the VTM. Both the Hoowaki NP Collection Swab and CPT Medical’s VTM are also available for purchase separately from the specimen collection kits.
To learn more about CPT Medical’s specimen collection kits healthcare providers can call 866-584-3713 or visit www.cptmed.com. To learn more about Hoowaki’s NP Collection Swab visit www.hoowaki.com/covid19-swabs or call Hoowaki LLC at (864) 238-5631 or email alex@hoowaki.com.
