TORONTO, Sept. 08, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Relay Medical Corp. (“Relay” or the “Company”) (CSE: RELA, OTC: RYMDF, Frankfurt: EIY2) and Fio Corporation (“Fio”) - together through their joint venture, Fionet Rapid Response Group (“FRR”) – are pleased to announce an agreement reached in principle with Rwanda Ministry of Health to deploy the Fionet Platform for containment of Rwanda’s malaria epidemic.
The parties are finalizing the details of the deployment under which the Rwanda Ministry of Health will pay over CAD $750,000 to FRR in order to pilot the Fionet Platform for six months. If successful, this pilot is expected to lead to a country-wide deployment of the Fionet Platform, which could scale to a nation-wide program. Funding will be provided to the Rwanda Ministry of Health from a world leading US-based charitable foundation.
Malaria is contracted by over 200 million people per year, and kills over 400,000 people annually, of whom two-thirds are children under the age of five. Rwanda is in the top 25 countries in the world with the highest number of malaria cases and deaths.1 Nearly half of the world’s population lives in areas at risk of malaria transmission.2 Donors such as USAID, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Global Fund, spend $3.5 billion annually on malaria control programs.3
“Our work with USAID in Central Africa has attracted interest for our Fionet Platform, including from Rwanda Ministry of Health,” said Dr Michael Greenberg, CEO of FRR. “Fionet’s capability to test and track diseases like malaria or COVID-19 across diverse countries is a valuable asset for any healthcare system. Through decentralized real-time data collection and aggregation, Fionet can provide healthcare officials with actionable insights working to contain current and future pandemics.”
Fionet’s accuracy, data capture and distribution capability was also demonstrated in a paper published in a technical journal by the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency.4 Fionet has proven to be a reliable rapid diagnostic testing solution during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to COVID-19, Fionet was successfully used to test and track over one million patients in remote settings around the world for infectious diseases including ebola, HIV and dengue fever.
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1 MALARIA DEATH RATE BY COUNTRY (worldlifeexpectancy.com)
2 https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/malaria_worldwide/impact.html
3 MALARIA DEATH RATE BY COUNTRY (worldlifeexpectancy.com)
4 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214180418300412
The Fionet Platform enhances the quality of healthcare delivered in decentralized health centers, health posts, and communities. Fionet Mobile Devices support frontline testing, and continuously capture and transmit comprehensive data to a centralized aggregation point. In real time, Fionet Portals allow off-site supervisors to track and direct frontline action, displaying accurate epidemiological information and providing actionable insights. South Africa’s leading laboratory recently published a medical research paper demonstrating that Fionet’s automated accuracy was comparable to expert lab technicians.5
The Company announces that it has granted an aggregate of 500,000 options to purchase common shares of the Company at $0.25 per common share and expiring five (5) years from the date of grant, to certain officers, directors and consultants of the Company.
VIDEO: Recent overview and walkthrough of the Fionet Testing Platform:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzH6Yy33Qq0
RECENT NEWS: Relay recently announced COVID-19 testing for the FIFA qualifying matches in advance of the World Cup in Qatar 2022.
https://www.relaymedical.com/newsblog/2021/9/2/relay-amp-fio-deployed-for-covid-19-testing-to-torontos-fifa-world-cup-qualifying-matches-in-advance-of-the-fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022
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About Fionet
The Fionet Platform is an end-to-end, rapid testing and tracking solution for community-based or decentralized settings. Combining a fast, handheld point-of-need device connected in real time to cloud data services, the Fionet Platform handles scheduling and registration via phone app for at home, on-site check-in and rapid on-the-spot universal antigen testing. The platform allows for data integration with other testing methods and devices, providing result notification for patient and public health authorities as appropriate, and anonymized data and statistics for dashboards for authorized stakeholders.
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Website: www.fionetrapidresponse.com
About Relay Medical Corp.
Relay Medical is a technology innovator headquartered in Toronto, Canada focused on the development of novel solutions in the diagnostics, AI data science and IoT security sectors.
Website: www.relaymedical.com
Contact:
Destine Lee
Media & Communications
Relay Medical Corp.
Office. 647-872-9982
TF. 1-844-247-6633
Media Inquiries: media@relaymedical.com
Investor Relations: investor.relations@relaymedical.com
Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement
Except for statements of historic fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the CSE. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company’s control. There are no assurances that the commercialization plans for the technology described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties that could affect financial results is contained in the Company’s filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com
