Point of Care Testing Company GBS Develops Technology to Take the Fear out of Diabetes and COVID Testing

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

GBS Inc. is presenting at the Benzinga Healthcare Small Cap Conference on September 29, 2021.

For some people with diabetes, testing with a pinprick is no more than a minor inconvenience.  But for many adults with testing phobias, they not only face the possibility of a rapid heartbeat or even passing out but could also skip much-needed glucose testing, putting their lives at risk.   

GBS Inc. GBS understands that testing anxiety can be a life-or-death dilemma and is on a mission to develop non-invasive, real-time diagnostic testing in the hands of patients and their primary health practitioners at the point-of-care.

Point of care testing company, GBS, has developed the first saliva-based Biosensor Platform and is launching diagnostic tests to help change the lives of people with diabetes and help combat COVID-19 and its variants with a real-time antibody test to monitor infection and immunity levels.  

The Company’s most advanced product is the Saliva Glucose Biosensor. It uses an organic thin-film transistor, incorporating glucose oxidase as the recognition element to initiate an electrochemical reaction, producing a signal that displays glucose measurements — in real-time on an app or dedicated device. 

“Diabetes is a global chronic health issue with more than 400 million people in the world living with this disease, and that figure is expected to increase to 700 million by 2045,” GBS Chief Executive Officer Harry Simeonidis stated. “People living with diabetes need to feel confident and comfortable using a glucose monitoring device to help manage and supplement their medication administration.” 

GBS has also conducted its own global survey of diabetes patients to verify the need for its Saliva Glucose Biosensor. In all target markets, 90% of patients responded positively to the Biosensor Platform, with 7 out of 10 patients “seriously interested” in purchasing the product when released, and 3 out of 10 wanting placement on the waiting list ahead of release.
An interesting sidelight to the survey found that while patients in the United States indicated the price of a pain-free alternative to current glucose monitoring would play a role in determining their decision to upgrade to a new device, patients in China indicated price was not an issue, as long as the product was accurate and reliable. The global survey included more than 300 patients worldwide living with diabetes.

COVID-19 Developments

Intending to gain U.S. Food and Drug Administration review, GBS has begun research protocols with The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University to progress with the milestone of integrating its technology with the Company’s Biosensor for SARS-Cov-2 antibody tests. 

GBS has also initiated a study for the salivary collection protocol with Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health and has completed technical optimization of Wyss’s eRapid assay performance in relation to SARS-Cov-2 antibody detection at the institute to align with the fastest antibody tests currently on the market using clinical samples.

Australian Government Awards Grant

GBS has been awarded a $4.7 million (USD) grant from the Australian federal government.  The funding will be used to build a biosensor manufacturing facility and was chosen as 1 of 6 national manufacturing priorities identified by the government under its Modern Manufacturing Strategy.

The Australian interest ties back to the roots of GBS’s technology, which results from 20 years of research and development by the country’s University of Newcastle Centre for Organic Electronics. 

For more information on GBS Inc., go to www.gbs.inc.

Photo courtesy of GBS Inc.

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.