Phylagen, the San Francisco-based biotech company focused on decoding the environmental microbiome for indoor safety was recently awarded a Certificate of Validation from AOAC INTERNATIONAL for its COVID-19 Indoor Test™ that detects SARS-CoV-2 in any built environment. Phylagen's test is one of the first to pass the rigorous independent evaluation required by the AOAC Research Institute's Performance Tested Methods™ Program and is currently the only certified SARS-CoV-2 indoor test kit solution available for anyone to purchase directly online.

Phylagen partnered with AOAC INTERNATIONAL at the beginning of the pandemic to be one of the first companies to undergo the rigorous test. During this initial validation process, the Phylagen COVID-19 Indoor Test™ and two other kits were evaluated for detection of the virus. To date, there has been no third-party certification available for indoor environmental testing.

"The rigor the AOAC brings makes it significant for Phylagen to be among the first cohort to receive AOAC's new Certificate of Validation for environmental testing of SARS-CoV-2," said Dr. Brad Taft, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Phylagen. "The emergence of the AOAC certification reinforces that indoor environmental testing for early detection of COVID-19 is becoming an evermore ubiquitous and essential tool for keeping populations in shared spaces safe."

The COVID-19 Indoor Test™ by Phylagen is a SARS-CoV-2 quantitative detection method that extracts the SARS-CoV-2 RNA from environmental swabs and detects it utilizing RT- PCR technology. Environmental surface swabs are collected by the customer and shipped back to Phylagen, Inc. for sample processing. Sample data are analyzed, and results are reported through a tracking portal.

Since the start of the pandemic, a wide range of businesses has turned to Phylagen to protect their workers by implementing regular indoor environmental testing. Manufacturing facilities shared workspaces, schools, and assisted living homes are just some of the businesses that have partnered with Phylagen to identify the presence of COVID-19.  The COVID-19 Indoor Test™ can be purchased online starting at $189 for five swabs. Custom solutions are also available for purchase. Once Phylagen receives the completed test swabs, results are delivered within 24 hours.  

About Phylagen

Phylagen is a San Francisco based biotech company committed to unlocking the global microbiome of built spaces. Phylagen's internationally recognized team of scientists turn dust into genomic data, providing crucial microbiome insights that impact indoor building health, supply chain traceability, and more.