WA’s Avicena Awarded National Prize for Diagnostic Instrument

Avicena Systems has been recognised with a top award at the 2021 National iAwards announced in Melbourne, Australia last night.

Avicena Sentinel is a ground-breaking, rapid, pandemic-scale diagnostic instrument designed to detect pathogens, including COVID-19.  

Using simple saliva samples, Sentinel is capable of processing more than 90,000 samples daily, delivering data in under 45 minutes. The first Avicena Sentinel instrument is installed in Spain, with more in progress.

Avicena won Start Up of the Year award and was honoured as a merit winner in the categories of Technology Platform Solution of the Year and Business & Industry Solution of the Year.

Avicena Systems CEO Tony Fitzgerald said the awards were well-deserved recognition for the outstanding technological innovation of the Avicena team, including co-founders Paul Ostergaard and Paul Watt.

“I’m incredibly proud that Avicena represents home-grown West Australian innovation that potentially will help millions of people around the world by contributing towards a faster, easier and more comfortable global screening solution,” Tony said.

“As the world begins to learn to live with COVID-19, Avicena’s technology is stepping up to facilitate, in particular, the return of large-scale air travel while protecting the health of passengers and airline staff,” Tony explained.

Avicena’s nationally award-winning instrument is built around state-of-the-art LAMP chemistry and robotics.

The instrument involves taking saliva samples (rather than swabs from the nose or throat), with a rapid turnaround time, at a fraction of the cost of PCR tests. The Avicena Sentinel instrument can be adapted to large-scale screening for many infectious diseases.

In July 2021, Avicena achieved Australian Federal Government recognition with a $3 million Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) grant to enable Avicena to significantly expand its manufacturing capabilities and to accelerate global roll-out for its ultra-high-throughput diagnostic instrument.

As a National iAward winner Avicena now progresses to the international Asia Pacific ICT Awards which offers world-leading innovators and technologies an opportunity to receive a prestigious international ICT award.