ISpecimen Inc (NASDAQ:ISPC) traded sharply higher Thursday, after the company announced the addition of a reference lab in New York to support commercial and government customers focused on COVID-19 research.
ISpecimen said the reference lab has the capacity to sequence hundreds of COVID-19 positive swabs per week. The lab is sequencing the most recent swabs in order to identify new variants of COVID-19 as the virus continues to progress.
"The sequencing of nasal swabs is necessary to determine which variant a patient has tested positive for and provides variant-positive specimens for research," said CEO Christopher Ianelli.
ISpecimen announced it has delivered more than 15,000 specimens for more than 200 COVID-related projects since the start of the pandemic.
iSpecimen claims to have been working diligently with the research community to understand COVID-19. In early 2020, iSpecimen began sending serum samples to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help researchers monitor antibody development for possible guidance on immunity.
iSpecimen has provided the CDC with 600 SARS-CoV-2-positive serum samples and 100 negative serum samples. In addition, iSpecimen has provided other federal agencies and private companies custom COVID-19 collections, which are often complex and complement the more immediate availability of remnant or banked samples.
iSpecimen offers an online marketplace for human biospecimens, connecting life scientists in commercial and non-profit organizations with healthcare providers that have access to patients and specimens needed for medical discovery. Proprietary, cloud-based technology enables scientists to intuitively search for specimens and patients across a federated partner network of hospitals, labs, biobanks, blood centers, and other healthcare organizations.
ISPC shares gained 57 cents, or 8.3%, to $7.40.
