Corteva, Alveo partner on disease diagnostic technology

Alveo Technologies, Inc. announced a collaboration with Corteva Agriscience to expand the offering of its eco-friendly molecular sensing and disease diagnostics technology to include a first-in-field agricultural disease diagnostic.

Alveo has developed a rapid, handheld, portable medical-grade platform that pairs advanced molecular assays with cloud-enabled data analytics for real-time disease, pathogen analysis, and diagnosis. Using this highly sensitive multiplexed molecular testing platform, Corteva scientists aim to design crop-specific assays to detect pathogens in the field.

“Alveo has developed a game changing, mobile ‘molecular lab’ that can deliver highly sensitive and specific diagnostic testing where it is needed, which can help solve some of the world’s most complex problems, like pandemics and global food crises,” Shaun Holt, CEO at Alveo said. “Our collaboration with Corteva reflects our core focus of taking molecular testing out of the lab and directly to the point of need where it can deliver insight and guidance. This partnership extends the technology beyond healthcare and into agricultural applications.”

“Corteva Agriscience explores the latest technologies as we strive to bring actionable insights and solutions to farmers where and when they need them,” said Gina Zastrow-Hayes, rechnical director, seed for R&D & Biotechnology at Corteva. “We are pleased to explore this feasibility with Alveo and are excited by the potential that in-field molecular testing platforms hold for the agricultural industry.”

Alveo’s be.well platform is a point-of-care infectious disease diagnostic platform that eliminates the need for specialized lighting and expensive optical detectors, while also simplifying certain aspects of primer manufacturing, providing a more robust and reliable diagnostic instrument.

Corteva scientists will explore three components of the platform to develop agri-based assays:

• The be.well Analyzer, a portable, palm-sized, rechargeable device.
• The be.well Cartridge, which contains the reagents required for an isothermal amplification reaction.
• The be.well Mobile App which offers step by step guidance on administering the test, cloud-connectivity for reporting and tracking results and back-end analytics for deeper insights into pathogen behavior.

Based in Alameda, California, Alveo’s portable diagnostic products bypass the need for centralized lab testing and through molecular detection technologies help expand early disease detection in sectors including agriculture, food safety, sanitation and healthcare.

Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Corteva Agriscience is global agriculture company whose roots go back to 1802 as a part of Dow and DuPont. Corteva’s agricultural chemicals and seeds helps growers enhance yields and protect resources

For more information, visit alveotechnologies.com and corteva.com.