RESULTS MATTER: ARUP and Nelson Labs Play Key Roles in Trusted Testing for Patients and PPE Validation.

Results matter when it comes to testing for COVID-19 and ensuring that PPE is, in fact, protective. Highly skilled laboratories, such as ARUP, perform a range of COVID-19 diagnostic and antibody tests, and Nelson Labs is recognized worldwide for its PPE barrier testing.

ARUP Laboratories: A Nationwide Leader in Test Development for COVID-19 and Other Infectious Diseases

Well before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020, laboratory scientists at ARUP Laboratories in University of Utah (U of U) Research Park were already hard at work developing a diagnostic test to detect Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19.

ARUP's test was the first molecular test for COVID-19 available in Utah, and one of the first available nationwide. ARUP, a not-for-profit enterprise of the U of U and its Department of Pathology, also validated the first COVID-19 IgG antibody test available in Utah to test for previous exposure to the virus.

As an academic reference laboratory with clients nationwide, ARUP develops dozens of new tests each year, drawing on the expertise of its medical directors, all of whom are also U of U faculty members. ARUP developed tests for the Zika virus in 2016 and for H1N1 in 2009, so its experts were already well versed in the FDA Emergency Use Authorization process that all laboratories must follow to get COVID-19 tests approved for use in the U.S.

"We were able to work on an accelerated schedule while maintaining rigorous standards that ensure accurate results for every individual tested," said ARUP CEO Sherrie L. Perkins, MD, PhD.

In addition to COVID-19 diagnostic and antibody testing, ARUP's menu of more than 3,000 tests includes other assays useful when treating patients with COVID-19. For example, the laboratory offers cytokine testing that identifies a serious hyperimmune reaction that affects some patients with COVID-19.

Through its Clinical Trials team, ARUP is participating in numerous clinical trials underway at the U of U and Intermountain Healthcare, as well as nationally, to investigate treatments for COVID-19. ARUP is collaborating with the Utah Department of Health on a study of SARS-CoV-2 genetics to understand how the virus has spread in Utah. It also is performing all testing for the Utah Health and Economic Recovery Outreach (HERO) project, an initiative that aims to help keep Utahns safe at work and at...