58207Extending the shelf life of viral swab samples for storage and shipment at room temperatureClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UKMore than 380,000 people have been tested for COVID-19 in the UK, with less than 20,000 samples being collected daily. The government plans to escalate testing more than five-fold to 100,000 daily samples. However, a severe limitation of swab samples which collect infected cells from the upper respiratory tract is their short shelf-life of only 48-72 hours at 2-8°C. Cells are fragile and unable to survive outside their normal environment, limiting the amount of time they can be tested to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Expired samples can no longer be used for reliable diagnostic purposes, and would lead to patients needing to be re-tested. A technology has been developed that enables the safe storage of biological samples, extending their lifespan at room temperature. This technology has effectively preserved a wide range of cell types, such as stem cells, primary skin and blood products. Furthermore, the technology is being applied to pioneering therapies, currently undergoing clinical trials, that use live cells to treat diseases and conditions that cannot be successfully treated with conventional drugs. This project proposes to use this technology to design a novel and innovative storage appliance to preserve swab samples at **room temperature** to extend the viability of testing samples way beyond 72 hours (up to two weeks). This would contribute to the government's goal of increasing daily testing for COVID-19, by allowing more patient samples to be collected as they can be safely stored for longer, or transported further to centralised testing facilities. This new swab-storage product would consist of a kit that is simple and quick for healthcare professionals to use. A novel preservation kit such as this is essential to extend the shelf-life of patient samples for COVID-19 testing. More flexibility in the timeframe for swab samples to be tested would ultimately result in more samples being able to be collected and therefore more patients being diagnosed. Additionally, increased testing can help direct government policies on social and workplace policies, which would help the economy and wellbeing of UK residents. A product like this has the potential to optimise global disease testing for COVID-19, and in the future could be applied to other disease diagnostic kits. The effects of Extension for Impact funding will enable Atelerix to extend the positive impacts learned within this project to enable further applications in COVID-19 research, diagnostics, and application to existing and emerging viruses. Key findings suggest that Atelerix's technology can be utilised for the preservation of upper airway epithelial cells, the cells that coronavirus infect. The development of clinical treatments, such as anti-virals and vaccines, to limit the spread or severity of coronavirus is a global health priority. Cell models are critical to understand the infection biology, growth kinetics and mechanism of action of coronavirus. The use of Atelerix’s technology to store and distribute airway epithelial cell models can have a direct impact on Research and Drug Discovery, and the ultimate development of new treatments. In addition, the Extension for Impact funding will allow Atelerix to explore how the novel product developed within this project could be applied to other infectious diseases for monitoring and reducing the risk of future pandemics.