Covid-19 breath test: NUS' Breathonix gets provisional nod for 60-second test after airport trial
SINGAPORE-BASED startup Breathonix has received provisional authorisation from the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for its 60-second Covid-19 breath test, the company announced on Monday.
Called the BreFence Go Covid-19 Breath Test System, the test is the first breath analysis system to secure provisional authorisation in Singapore. The development comes about seven months after Breathonix unveiled its system and told The Business Times (BT) that it was targeting HSA approval.
Breathonix is now working with the Ministry of Health to run a deployment trial at one of the land checkpoints. Incoming travellers will undergo screening with the BreFence Go Covid-19 Breath Test System, alongside the current compulsory antigen rapid test.
Breathonix is a spin-off company from the National University of Singapore (NUS). It was founded by three NUS graduates: Jia Zhunan, Du Fang and Wayne Wee.
Its breath test detects volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in a person's exhaled breath that are produced by various biochemical reactions in human cells. Changes in VOCs can be measured as markers for diseases like Covid-19.
The individual being tested blows into a disposable one-way valve mouthpiece connected to a high-precision breath sampler. The exhaled breath is collected and fed into a mass spectrometer for measurement.
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Chief executive Dr Jia said: "Cross-contamination is unlikely as the disposable mouthpiece has a one-way valve and a saliva trap to prevent inhalation or saliva from entering the machine."
Breathonix's proprietary software algorithm then analyses the VOCs biomarkers, and generates results in under a minute. Any individual screened positive will need to undergo a confirmatory polymerase chain reaction swab test.
Breathonix's system underwent clinical trials at three locations conducted from June 2020 to April 2021. In Singapore, trials were carried out at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) and Changi Airport. A third trial was carried out in Dubai, in collaboration with the Dubai Health Authority and the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences.
In October, Breathonix told BT that its system had achieved an accuracy rate of more than 90 per cent during a pilot clinical trial involving 180 patients at the NCID. Breathonix is targeting a service model, with a price point of US$20 per test, its chairman Kok Beng Neo had then said.
The startup is now in discussion with several local and overseas organisations to use the system.
Freddy Boey, deputy president (innovation and enterprise) at NUS, said that the provisional authorisation is a major milestone, and "adds to the university's ongoing efforts to help Singapore fight the Covid-19 pandemic on multiple fronts."
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