www.alphalabs.co.uk 13 IMMY-Evolving in Response to the Pandemic Saving Lives One Diagnostic at a Time IMMY, a diagnostic manufacturer based in Norman, Oklahoma, USA, has had a singular focus since 1979: “Saving Lives One Diagnostic at a Time”. Until last spring, that vision was solely centred around creating diagnostics to be utilised close to the patient in clinics, hospitals, and labs across the world for diagnosing rare, invasive fungal diseases. With the onset of the pandemic, in early 2020, the necessity for pivotal changes in operations was clear, knowing that IMMY had the expertise and manpower to be a fighting force against COVID-19. The process was different, but the mission still rang true: “Saving Lives One Diagnostic at a Time”. So, IMMY got to work transitioning its workforce from developing new fungal diagnostics and began devising a method for COVID testing that would be faster and more efficient than the current, timeconsuming options. In March of 2020, as the pandemic started to take form in the U.S., IMMY officially founded IMMYLabs LLC to lend a hand in the fight against COVID-19. In less than a weeks’ time IMMYLabs became a CLIA certified laboratory capable of receiving and processing PCR samples. With the help of PCR machinery from the University of Oklahoma, IMMYLabs began receiving samples delivered to its lab for COVID-19 PCR testing. It’s goal was to get accurate results back to patients in less than two business days. After realising the desperate need for high-volume testing, IMMYLabs developed a highly efficient drive through system designed to test thousands of patients each day. Patients would sign up for a test on a secure, online portal created by IMMY’s internal IT team, show up to a drive through location that offered no-contact check-in, and would be swabbed within minutes of their check-in time. At the height of Oklahoma’s testing needs, IMMYLabs ran over 31,000 COVID-19 tests in a single week, returning results in an average of 25 hours. By July of 2021, IMMYLabs had administered over 300,000 PCR COVID-19 tests to citizens of Oklahoma. As the COVID-19 vaccine was being rolled out, there was an immediate surge in demand for vaccine appointments and not nearly enough locations administering them to keep up with said demand. IMMYLabs rose to the challenge again and developed an efficient, fast system for vaccinating Oklahomans on a mass scale. Again, with the use of an internally developed software, IMMYLabs allowed for patients to sign up quickly and easily for a vaccination appointment online. Locations all over the state were in need of vaccination services, so IMMYLabs made sure to develop their system so that it could be mobilised. IMMYLabs has been an essential piece in the battle against COVID-19 in Oklahoma and has potentially saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans by making testing and vaccination readily available. The state-wide effort to move back to normalcy has been greatly expedited by the services provided by IMMYLabs. The pandemic has brought many changes to IMMY, but one thing remains the same: the unwavering goal to always prioritise “Saving Lives One Diagnostic (or Vaccine) at a Time”. Read the full story online: www.alphalabs.co.uk/immy-covid
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