MyResultNow, an American Gene Technologies’ Clinical Laboratory, Funds HIV Cure Research
How American Gene Technologies® (AGT™) Started MyResultNow
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the U.S. economy in 2020, American Gene Technologies CEO Jeff Galvin found a way to keep his scientists safe and help the local community, all while advancing cure research.
American Gene™ had gene therapy programs underway that could lead to cures for HIV, Phenylketonuria (PKU), and cancer. But this clinical research is not something that can be tackled while working remotely from home, so COVID restrictions were threatening their progress.
Economic & Health Threat
Companies everywhere were closing, employees were losing their livelihoods, and at-risk companies realized that without COVID-19 testing, they couldn’t work in-person together safely. The lack of viral testing capacity infamously led to wait times of a week or more for test results. Not only did this cause scheduling chaos in airports and doctor’s offices, it also nearly invalidated test results by the time they became available. Clearly, something needed to be done.
Lightbulb Moment
That’s when Galvin and the American Gene team had an epiphany.
“We use similar techniques for gene therapy research in our own lab,” said Galvin. “Why not shift some resources over to building an in-house lab that could process rapid and highly accurate PCR tests for COVID-19?”
Safety: American Gene staff would be able to safely continue working in the lab and in the office. “The work done at AGT demands creativity. Sharing information in the hallways, bouncing ideas off of each other, even just seeing people smile, it all leads to an environment where creativity cures,” says Galvin. “With timely access to ultra-sensitive test results, our company could keep innovating.”
Pandemic Response: There was an acute need for this type of testing in medical offices, travel offices, schools, and embassies. American Gene helped them all. The speed and convenience of using MyResultNow helped the local community identify cases before they turned into outbreaks.
Revenue: The clinical lab’s testing volume could be marketed to the local medical community to fulfill the testing shortage, creating an additional source of funding to drive AGT’s research.
"100% of the profit from these tests goes to help us continue to develop and test our gene therapy cure for HIV." - Jeff Galvin, AGT CEO.
The highly automated MyResultNow lab can process up to 3,000 tests a day. Because of its modular design, it can even be moved to offsite locations for mass testing.
Its cloud-based ordering and reporting system makes it simple and accessible for all.
MyResultNow Is Not Stopping There
Now, with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and the flu filling up our hospitals – and an overall flu season predicted to be the worst in years – AGT is offering tests for RSV, Flu and Strep as well as COVID. AGT’s COVID test already dramatically reduces typical wait times for results and allows patients to receive appropriate treatment much faster, and now patients can receive a full panel of respiratory virus test results in the same (less than 24-hour) turnaround times.