XPrize to give $5 million to creator of cheap, fast COVID-19 testing

XPrize to give $5 million to creator of cheap, fast COVID-19 testing Google and Amazon are backing it, among others. Shannon Connellan Mashable

Tech giants including Google and Amazon pledged support for a $5 million competition to accelerate cheap and fast COVID-19 testing in the U.S.

The competition is being run by XPrize, the non-profit organization that designs public competitions to solve global challenges with hefty grants. Recently, it offered $10 million to the first team able to create a functional robotic avatar by 2021.

This time, it's offering up $5 million to innovators around the globe who can come up with inexpensive, fast, and easy COVID-19 testing that enables effective, data-driven tracing.

Teams are tasked with creating a test with a maximum turnaround time of 12 hours, from sample to result, using a minimally invasive collection procedure. And each test must cost less than $15, including all materials. While the prices of current COVID-19 tests vary, most cost around $100.

Since the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic on March 11, testing has become crucial to quelling the spread of the virus....

XPrize says that most currently available COVID-19 tests are "expensive, slow, invasive, and are supply-chain limited," and that the competition aims to boost current testing capabilities by 100 times, in a move, the organization says, necessary to reopening local economies and systems. 

"Fast, affordable, and accessible testing is crucial to containing the Covid-19 pandemic and safely reopening schools, businesses and other vital institutions around the world," said Anousheh Ansari, CEO of XPrize, in a press statement. "XPrize Rapid Covid Testing is inspiring the best entrepreneurial and scientific teams to come together to work towards rapid, affordable Covid-19 testing at scale, and ultimately, getting the world up and running again."