Tech & Innovation in Healthcare

Receive peace of mind with at-home COVID-19 test kits.

In the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines are a huge success in protecting patients from the disease. But did you know that at-home coronavirus test kits are also revolutionizing the healthcare industry? When healthcare has a core need, researchers use technology and innovation to answer the call.

Read on to learn more about the science behind two mRNA vaccines and the at-home COVID-19 test kits.

Take the Fight to COVID-19 with mRNA Technology

Arguably one of 2021’s biggest medical breakthroughs was the success of vaccines against COVID-19. The Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty and Moderna’s SpikeVax mRNA technologies tell the body’s cells how to make proteins to fight the disease.

The mRNA delivers blueprints to the cells on how to make the protein that’s found on the outside of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Once the proteins attach to specialized immune cells, the patient’s system recognizes them as a threat and builds the antibodies.

Katalin Karikó, PhD and Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, at Penn Medicine developed the mRNA technology and published their research in 2005 on how mRNA could apply to therapeutic use. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the scientists put their research to the test.

“When the Chinese released the sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, we started the process of making RNA the next day. A couple weeks later, we were injecting animals with the vaccine. RNA in itself is incredibly fast,” Weissman says

(URL: www.pennmedicine.org/coronavirus/vaccine/qa-with-drew-weissman). When scientists make a cultured influenza vaccine, the process takes months to arrive at a viable vaccine option. However, to create an RNA vaccine, scientists only need the sequence.

The mRNA vaccine technology has shown to be highly effective in protecting those who are fully vaccinated. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is 94.1 percent effective (URL: www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/moderna-covid-19-vaccine-frequently-asked-questions), while the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 95 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 disease (URL: www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine-frequently-asked-questions).

What’s next for mRNA? With the success of mRNA in protecting against COVID-19, researchers are testing to see if the novel technology will be effective against other infectious diseases. “Because mRNA immunizations can be generated more rapidly than cultured immunizations, mRNA immunization delivery is an excellent example of how well we can keep pace with viral behavior, and therefore protect more people from becoming seriously ill,” says Christopher J. Norman, MSN, APRN, GNP-BC, Geriatric Nurse Practitioner for PACE CNY (Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly of Central NY) in East Syracuse, New York.

Prior to the pandemic, BioNTech’s mRNA research focused on cancer treatments. Moderna is currently researching a cystic fibrosis treatment, medicine for heart disease, and vaccine potential against a wide swath of diseases, such as the flu, HIV, and Zika. Additionally, Penn scientists are exploring the efficacy of mRNA technology against genetic conditions like sickle-cell anemia, neurodevelopmental disorders like ALS and dementia, and more.

Receive Peace of Mind from At-Home COVID-19 Tests

During 2021, corner pharmacies, grocery stores, and general merchandise retailers stocked COVID-19 test kits for at-home use. The rapid antigen tests required the patient to swab their nostrils and they’d receive the results in around 15 minutes. While the instructions direct people to contact their medical provider if the test provides the slightest hint of a positive result, a negative result can provide peace of mind.

“If you’re being mindful of your physical distance from others, wearing a mask in public or indoor places, and you’re concerned about exposure, a ‘negative’ test result can be a relief. Even though the tests aren’t perfect, contacting a healthcare provider probably isn’t necessary,” Norman says.

The rapid antigen tests found in stores have a high sensitivity rate of about 85 percent, on average, but that means the tests can miss 15 percent of people who are infected. You’re likely to receive a more accurate result when you visit a medical facility that’s using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. Medical professionals prefer the PCR tests, as the tests’ thorough process helps ensure precise results.

One company, Cue Health, is developing COVID-19 tests for home use. The goal of the tests is to deliver PCR-quality results in under an hour. In fact, a Mayo Clinic study found the Cue Health test results are similar to lab-quality PCR test results 97.8 percent of the time (URL: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0732889320306842).

Plus, the developers foresee using similar at-home kits to test for several diseases in the future, including strep throat, the flu, and chlamydia.