Question Period Note: Rapid COVID-19 testing

COVID-19 testing technologies are advancing quickly as the pandemic continues. On behalf of the Public Health Agency of Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada is actively exploring additional agreements to secure access to the most promising candidates, in advance of regulatory approval.

• The health and safety of Canadians is our number one priority
  • As with many of our agreements for equipment, tests and vaccines, we have pursued an advanced purchase agreement to secure Canada's access to these tests
  • These rapid tests will aid in meeting the urgent demands from provinces and territories to test Canadians and reduce wait time for results, which is key to reducing the spread of the virus
  • As new tests and instruments become available, approved and are considered effective, we will continue to bring them online so health authorities have access to all available resources needed to get us through this pandemic

If pressed on the delivery of Abbott Panbio and ID Now tests:

• Under the current agreement, delivery of up to 22 million Panbio antigen tests will be completed by March 31, 2021. I can confirm that we have received 6 shipments so far for a total of 5,982,700 tests
• In addition, Abbott Rapid Diagnostics ULC is also supplying up to 7.9 million ID NOW rapid tests to the Government of Canada. We have already received 514,536 tests and 1,210 analyzers
• COVID-19 testing technologies are advancing quickly as the pandemic continues. Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) is actively exploring additional agreements to secure access to the most promising candidates, in advance of regulatory approval

If pressed on the delivery of Becton Dickinson Veritor tests and analyzers:

• Under the current agreement, delivery of 7.6 million Veritor antigen tests will be completed by March 31, 2021. We have already received 203,040 tests and 108 analyzers

If pressed on distribution:

• The Government of Canada continues to work with federal, provincial and territorial governments to assess ongoing needs for medical equipment and supplies
• All province and territories will receive instruments and tests and allocation has already begun
• The Public Health Agency of Canada will be working with provinces and territories to ensure that the devices are allocated so as to have the most impact based on existing and future COVID-19 hotspots in Canada

If pressed on purchasing before Health Canada authorization:

• The contracts were structured so that the purchase of the tests was conditional on Health Canada authorization

If pressed on the purchase of analyzers for the Abbott ID NOW:

• Under the agreement, we are purchasing a guaranteed minimum of 1,700 analyzers, with options to purchase up to 3,800
• Analyzers are the devices that perform the test and deliver the rapid results
• The 1,700 analyzers could also be used for other types of testing

If pressed on Precision Biomonitoring:

• On November 2nd, Health Canada has approved the TripleLock Test manufactured by Precision Biomonitoring. At this time, PSPC has no contractual agreement with Precision Biomonitoring. Any question should be referred to Health Canada

Abbott Panbio antigen test

The Abbott Panbio COVID-19 antigen test is a rapid test that can detect SARS-CoV-2 directly from a nasopharyngeal or nasal swab in just over 15 minutes. It requires no instrumentation but must still be performed by a trained healthcare professional. This test is portable and lightweight and can easily be used in point of care in a variety of settings. The product does not require specialized storage temperatures.

While this contract is the first one put in place by Canada to procure antigen tests, more are expected. For this reason, we are not releasing the contract value at this time, in order to protect our negotiating position. In line with our commitment to transparency, the value of this agreement will be disclosed in due time.

On October 6, 2020, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement announced the purchase of up to 20.5 million Panbio COVID-19 Antigen rapid tests. These particular tests, approved on October 5, 2020, are the first antigen tests to be approved by Health Canada for use in Canada.

On November 20, an amendment was issued to procure an additional 2.5 million Panbio COVID-19 Antigen rapid test.

Becton-Dickinson Veritor antigen test

The BD Veritor SARS-CoV-2 antigen test is a rapid test that can detect SARS‑CoV-2 directly from a nasal swab in just over 15 minutes from patients that are within the first five days of the onset of symptoms. This testing requires a handheld analyzer and must be performed by a trained healthcare professional. This test is portable, lightweight and can easily be used in point of care in a variety of settings. It also does not require specialized storage temperatures.

On October 23, 2020, a contract was awarded to Becton Dickinson for the procurement of 7,599,990 Veritor antigen tests as well as 600 analyzers. The contract has yet to be announced.

Additional agreements have previously been signed with Biomérieux (up to 699,750 tests) and InterMedico (1.2 million GeneXpert tests).

Abbott ID NOW point-of-care test

The Abbott ID NOW system is a rapid point-of-care test for COVID-19. The technology can detect the virus directly from a nasal swab, returning results in as little as 13 minutes. The testing device, or analyzer, is small and lightweight and can easily be transported to remote locations and operated with minimal training.

Abbott Rapid Diagnostics ULC is also supplying up to 7.9 million ID NOW rapid tests.

Spartan point-of-care test

The Spartan test involves inserting a cartridge containing a swab from a patient’s mouth into a test analyzer (Cube) that analyzes DNA for the presence of the coronavirus. The technology can detect the virus in as little as 30 minutes. The testing device, or analyzer, is small and lightweight and can easily be transported to remote locations.

On March 25, Public Services and Procurement Canada issued a contract to Spartan Bioscience Inc. for the purchase of 1,020,000 tests and 100 testing platforms (Cubes).

On April 9, the original contract was amended to purchase an additional 900,000 tests and 600 testing platforms (Cubes)

Execution of this contract was conditional of Spartan obtaining Health Canada approval.

On October 29, Health Canada issued an investigational testing authorization (ITA) to Spartan to conduct a clinical trial on their Point of Care test and generic swab, to obtain data to support its effectiveness. Health Canada approval is pending results of this clinical trial.

Delivery timelines

Under the current agreement of the Panbio antigen test, delivery of up to 22 million antigen tests will be completed by March 31, 2021.

The preliminary delivery schedule calls for 8,500,000 tests to be delivered by end of December 2020.

An option exists in the contract for the purchase of an additional 12 million tests to be delivered from January until March 31st, 2021

Under the agreement of the ID NOW tests, delivery of 2.5 million tests will be completed by December 31, 2020.

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