Menon Announces Deployment of Rapid COVID-19 Test to India For Immediate Approval

Rapid Assay Methodology Utilizing Existing MRI Infrastructure Aims to Help Identify Positive Cases in Pandemic Epicenter of India; Company Seeking Rapid Approval to Curb Outbreak

San Diego, CA - (NewMediaWire) - April 28, 2021 - Menon Biosensors, Inc. ("Menon” or the "Company"), a distributive technology portfolio company, announced today that it will deploy its proprietary Molecular Mirror™ platform technology to India as a rapid assay for detection of the SARS-CoV-2 (“COVID-19”) virus in patient specimens, seeking immediate regulatory approval in order to help stop the outbreak in the country.

Currently a hotspot for the COVID-19 pandemic, Menon is sending several thousand assays to India at no cost to assist with on-going testing of the general population, in an effort to curb the spread of the virus. The Company also hopes to initiate trials on the innovative technology, where the results will then be shared with the various Indian regulatory agencies for emergency approval. 

The announcement comes after scientists in United States of America at the UC San Diego’s Clinical Molecular Microbiology Laboratory and Menon successfully completed on-site trials on live patient samples. The trials showed that combining Molecular Mirror™ technology with a standard magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”) machine or benchtop magnetic resonance instrument could provide a rapid output testing process for detection of the COVID-19 virus and potential variants, which would be capable of testing upward of 100,000 samples per site.  Using standard MRI machines found in almost every major hospital, the technology allows for results within an hour after samples enter the MRI. 

"It is currently a very difficult situation across India with the pandemic,” said Dr. Suresh Menon, Founder and President of Menon. “Many reasons can be alluded to what has caused rapid spread of the virus in the region, but what is certain is that we need to work together to find a solution and quickly. Numerous trials have proven that our Molecular Mirror™ technology could be the solution to the global need for high-volume testing in order to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, and we hope to be able to help India start to recover by providing our proven technology. Current RT-PCR and other nucleic acid methods are falling short for various reasons, and the key to stopping the spread is providing positive patients and healthcare professionals with information and guidelines. This can only be done with accurate and massive testing, which we can provide. We are calling on the Indian government to move quickly in approving this product as we are ready to scale and ship the necessary assays and associated training materials to implement the system as quickly as possible.”

The Molecular Mirror™ assay achieves high sensitivity and specificity without the need for RNA extraction using magnetic nanoparticles functionalized with target-specific biomarkers that bind to specific regions of a pathogen's genome (RNA). The sample, bound with nanoparticles, is then processed to produce a change in its magnetic properties, specifically the "spin-spin relaxation time." This produces a signal that can be isolated by magnetic resonance-based equipment leading to the detection of pathogens such as COVID-19.   By eliminating the need for RNA extraction, Molecular Mirror™ eliminates a major bottleneck in traditional COVID diagnostic testing, i.e. extraction reagent availability. It enables rapid sample-to-answer time, decreased cost, and eliminates tedious process-flow steps.

For more information about Menon, please visit us at www.menonbiosensors.com.

About Menon Biosensors, Inc.

Menon Biosensors, Inc., a subsidiary of Menon International, Inc., is a molecular biochemistry company that provides DNA/RNA analysis for the diagnosis of biological pathogens. Menon Biosensors' Molecular Mirror™ NMR-based platform technology provides superior sensitivity and specificity, and minimizes sample preparation, providing best in class sample-to-answer pathogen detection. The technology has been validated by respected Universities and diagnostic companies.

Press Contact:

Kyle Porter

CMW Media, President

Menon@cmwmedia.com

1.858.264.6600

Corporate Contact:

Menon Biosensors, Inc

info@menon.us

1.858.675.9990

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