The first stage of the commitment assumed by ISA and Ruta N’s Innova por la Vida program to import 100.000 COVID-19 diagnostic tests is fulfilled.

‘Innova por la Vida’ is a program that counts on the participation of the Government of Antioquia and the Mayor’s Office of Medellín, through Ruta N. The program has four work fronts but, within the framework of this alliance. It focuses on the massification of diagnostic tests.

As part of the objectives of flattening the curve and helping reactivate the economy, these first 30.000 diagnostic tests will be applied in the laboratories of the National Institute of Health (Instituto Nacional de Salud).

The tests will be received by the Regional Secretariat of Health of Antioquia through the Departmental Laboratory of Public Health and the One Health Genomic Laboratory of Universidad Nacional, Medellín campus.

The first 30.000 COVID-19 diagnostic tests arrived in the country out of a total of 100.000 tests, for which the ISA Group provided COP 4 billion through the Innova por la Vida program led by Ruta N, Medellín’s innovation and business center. These are molecular tests based on the detection of genetic material of viruses (RNA) using the RT–PCR method, automated extraction, and the Berlin Protocol, recommended by the World Health Organization and endorsed by the National Institute of Health.

The purpose is to respond before the urgent need for more diagnostic tests in the country that include all the cases (suspected, asymptomatic, and contact cases) through the departmental laboratories of the National Institute of Health (Instituto Nacional de Salud – INS), to protect lives, strengthen diagnostic systems, and reactivate the economy gradually and safely. This first batch will be distributed mainly in Antioquia, Chocó, the Atlantic Coast, and Nariño.

“This is a new commitment to a Company-University-State alliance to create a united front that will allow us to address the social and economic impact that this disease has been generating. This first batch of 30.000 diagnostic tests has arrived in a timely manner since, according to the WHO, Latin America is now the epicenter of the pandemic”, Bernardo Vargas Gibsone, ISA’s CEO, said.

The tests will be received by the Regional Secretariat of Health of Antioquia through the Departmental Laboratory of Public Health and the One Health Genomic Laboratory of Universidad Nacional, Medellín campus, which will process the diagnostic tests.

This alliance articulates efforts between public and private institutions to generate and finance a constant flow of inputs for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, achieving a more effective control of the pandemic. The remaining 70.000 diagnostic tests already purchased and under import process are expected to arrive in the country in the coming weeks.

This is another initiative of the ISA Group to support the mitigation of the pandemic in different regions of the country with resources for up to COP 10 billion. Recently, ISA announced its support to research projects to combat COVID-19 for approximately COP 1.2 billion, with two scopes: developing the first clinical trial in Colombia for the use of Convalescent Plasma, and strengthening national capacities to produce chemical and biological reagents locally, necessary in the process of detecting the disease without depending on imports.

Innova por la Vida

This is a project articulated between the Government of Antioquia and the Mayor’s Office of Medellín through Ruta N, which seeks to develop all the science, technology, and innovation capacities in Medellín to create quick solutions to prevent, address, and control the virus, based on four initiatives:

Massification of diagnostic tests for early detection of COVID-19.

Apps, platforms, and data tools to serve public health.

Open source ventilators and respirators: INNSpiraMED.

Strengthening hospital capacities by providing equipment and protection for health staff and patients.

ISA contributes to the achievement of the first of these initiatives.