Our experience & our mission

No doubt: our primary goal is to expedite molecular diagnostics! Read where we come from and how we intend to succeed in our mission.

The Past

The development of the technology of the SwiftX rapid extraction solutions is closely connected to Dr. Andy Wende. He is a biochemist with over 15 years experience in research and development of molecular biology-based technologies and inventor of 16 patents. During his 9 years at Qiagen he was engaged in various interdisciplinary projects in the area of Point-of-Care diagnostics. He worked extensively with multiple technologies for real-time nucleic acid detection such as PCR, LAMP, tHDA, RPA. Apart from that he also developed several alternative nucleic acid extraction strategies. These alternative extraction methods aimed to improve DNA/RNA extraction in several aspects:

  • making them more environmental friendly, e.g. by avoiding chaotropic salts and alcohols
  • increasing sensitivity, e.g. by enhanced accessibility of nucleic acids from hard-to-lyse organims such as Mycobacteria
  • simplifying and shortening the workflow to allow proper nucleic acid extraction to be performed in any laboratory setting

However, the concepts have not been recognized by Qiagen and did not turn into a new product family, which could have been grown into an in-house competition to existing extraction products. At some point, Dr. Wende decided to leave Qiagen and started a new chapter by joining TÜV SÜD Product Service, the largest Notified Body for Medical Devices. In the next 4 years, he became a Lead Auditor and Product Assessor for high-risk IVD medical devices under the European regulations IVDD and IVDR. 

 

 

The Present

In 2020, eventually, a team of dedicated entrepreneurs including Dr. Wende prepared the foundation of Xpedite Diagnostics. This team was and still is convinced that smart nucleic acid extraction is the key facilitator for any sensitive and specific DNA and RNA detection. So, the mission was clear right from the beginning: transform concepts and strategies into high-quality and IVD-certified products.

Xpedite Diagnostics has established its SwiftX™ Toolbox, which is a collection of different components, each with a particular functionality. According to individual needs, these components are combined to enable us to swiftly develop new prototypes of tailored nucleic acid extraction solutions for customers. To date, our product portfolio includes 4 products for rapid extraction of DNA and RNA. Two of them are also CE-IVD certified under the IVD Regulation (EU) 2017/746. Further products are in development and will be launched later this year.

In order to provide our customers a full workflow solution for nucleic acid detection, we have signed distribution agreements with provider of different amplification reagent providers. For isothermal amplification, we partnered with Jiangsu Qitian Gene Biotechnology, who provides high-quality Recombinase Aided Amplification (RAA) reagents. RAA is an isothermal technology, which can provide molecular results within as short as 10 minutes including real-time detection of amplified DNA or RNA. For real-time PCR, we partnered with Solis Biodyne, who provides room-temperature stable PCR reagents.

We have established partnerships with several academic and industrial partners in Europe, North America as well as East Asia. These collaborations are very important to us and we are grateful for the trust in us. These partnerships broaden our mind, challenge our R&D team, and contribute to the long-term business success of Xpedite Diagnostics.

 

The Future

Well, we do not know exactly what is yet to come, but we will work hard and keep supporting our customers. Our goal is to increase and strengthen our market presence on all continents and to expand into new markets. For that, we aim to win new customers by introducing them to our reverse purification and cell capture technology, which is fundamentally different from conventional DNA and RNA extraction kits. We are committed to satisfy customers by uncompromised product quality and adapt to their needs.

Yet, the most enjoyable part is to keep in touch with the people who use our products: the researchers, scientist, developers, and lab technicians. Continuously growing our collaborations is important in multiple aspects. It enables us to learn about current and future customer & market needs and to develop products that fit these needs. And last but not least, being scientists at heart, we are always keen to learn new things and tackle unsolved challenges.