It has been one year since Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau announced that LuminUltra would be supplying the federal government with reagent for 25 million COVID-19 clinical diagnostic tests. Having now fulfilled our commitment, we wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on the past year and what it’s meant for our LuminUltra team.
When we started 2020, we were a global biotechnology leader developing rapid, portable, and accurate microbial monitoring solutions focused on the water sector. Today, we’ve expanded our product line and moved into the clinical diagnostic space. This has been a year of tremendous growth for our company and immense pride for the role we’ve been able to play in helping Canadians and countries across the globe fight the pandemic.
March
- Early in March Source Molecular, now a LuminUltra company, developed, validated, ISO certified, and made available a COVID-19 wastewater testing service. They were the first environmental lab to globally get in the ring.
- We launched our COVID-19 response plan to keep our employees safe, including new remote work policies and health and safety best practices for our on-site staff.
- The Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, issues a call-to-action to Canadian industry to support the fight against COVID-19. Our President & CEO, Pat Whalen, responds within minutes, kicking off discussions with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
April
- Prime Minister Trudeau publicly announces the role we played, delivering tests across Canada, in his daily COVID-19 briefing.
August
- Our COVID-19 clinical assay was completed.
September
- LuminUltra has delivered 10 million tests to PHAC.
- Our first shipment departs from LuminUltra’s brand new Canadian facility — constructed in under four months to meet the demand.
October
- We announce the patent filing for the world’s first rapid, on-site wastewater test for COVID-19. Helping communities across the globe monitor the health of their populations with non-invasive testing.
November
- LuminUltra announces the acquisition of Source Molecular Corporation, a leader in lab-based testing solutions for microbial source tracking of pathogens including SARS-CoV-2. With this acquisition, customers around the world can now choose to analyze samples remotely via mail-in service to Source Molecular, or rapidly onsite using LuminUltra’s gold standard GeneCount® qPCR testing kits.
January
- On Jan. 4 we welcomed our 100th new team member since the start of 2020.
February
- Partnership announced with the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, which is using LuminUltra’s clinical testing solutions to test departing passengers and staff.
March
- 25 million worth of reagents were delivered to PHAC, fulfilling our agreement.
Our core purpose — to create peace of mind so we can all work, live, and play with confidence — remains at the forefront of our efforts as we continue to develop solutions that can help keep our communities safe. LuminUltra’s journey over the past 26 years has been an exciting one, and we look forward to what’s to come next.
