As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Orange County, a public-private partnership with roots in the area’s ophthalmic industry continues to make strides.
Menlo Park-based Avellino Labs USA, in partnership with the Orange County Health Care Agency, has expanded its COVID-19 testing network from six initial sites to about a dozen throughout the region.
The network, which launched in April for residents experiencing COVID-19 symptoms without access through their healthcare provider, purchased about 14,000 tests from Avellino and wants to continue boosting its capacity.
Meanwhile, Avellino plans to keep growing to meet soaring demand here and across the country.
It aims to perform 50,000 tests in the month of July alone—the same amount of tests performed in the three months since March, according to longtime area ophthalmic executive Jim Mazzo, who sits on the company’s board.
Avellino’s test is an FDA-approved molecular diagnostics test, which diagnoses infected persons, opposed to antibody tests that can detect the virus in both infected and recovered persons.
Demand Drives
Avellino, a gene-based diagnostics firm with a focus on eye disorders until the recent coronavirus outbreak, pivoted to develop a molecular diagnostics test for COVID-19 in April.
“Much of the expertise in testing technology applied to the AvellinoCoV2 test comes from the Avellino’s work in genetic testing for corneal diseases,” Mazzo told the Business Journal at the time the network was announced.
Since then, Avellino has attracted clients from about 130 locations in 10 states.
Most clients are nursing homes and retirement or long-term care facilities, though it also serves clients in high-tech manufacturing, meatpacking, schools, nonprofit organizations, wineries and physician/dental offices.
It also aids governments seeking to test first responders and essential services personnel.
Another notable partner: Octane, the area’s business and life sciences accelerator, which was co-founded by Mazzo.
Octane’s industry events, which should resume in the fall with the start of its Tech Innovation Forum in September.
Cities Act, Too
The cities of Anaheim and Irvine opened two new test sites at the Anaheim Convention Center and Orange County Great Park parking lot No. 6 last week.
Combined, the efforts will immediately increase molecular diagnostics testing, or PCR testing, for COVID-19 by at least 1,000 per day.
Anaheim is working with the County of Orange and Westminster-based nonprofit 360 Clinic to conduct no-contact drive-thru services at the “super site,” which is expected to ramp from 800 to 1,200 tests per day in the next week or so.
Tests are available free of charge to symptomatic individuals and those in close contact with infected persons; costs are expected to be covered by insurance, federal assistance or county aid.
The site will prioritize those individuals, as well as healthcare workers, first responders, residents and employees of long-term care facilities and essential workers, according to a press release.
“The Convention Center is also centrally located to be able to serve both Anaheim and Santa Ana, two cities that need access to testing the most, given the high number of cases in those cities,” Vice Chairman Supervisor Andrew Do, First District, noted in a statement.
Cases in Anaheim and Santa Ana made up 36% of cases in Orange County at press time, while Irvine had about 907 cases, or 3%.
Irvine last week began testing for people who live and work in the city.
The city is expected to perform about 260 tests per day for a month, before revisiting the plan. Capacity has already been reached for the 30-day program.
It’s partnered with patient messaging platform Curogram Inc. in Newport Beach and several labs including Costa Mesa-based Pangea Laboratory on the service.
Curogram will bill the service through insurance or the city, according to a press release.
This is the city’s second attempt to test all residents; it had plans to offer tests through US Health Fairs before local paper Voice of OC reported that one of the tests was not FDA approved.
