SAN DIEGO–Quidel Corporation, a provider of rapid diagnostic testing solutions, cellular-based virology assays and molecular diagnostic systems, announced that Quidel’s President and CEO Douglas Bryant was named Executive of the Year in the MedTech Dive Awards for 2020.
MedTech Dive, a business publication that provides in-depth reporting on developments in medical technology, focused its annual awards for 2020 on recognizing companies and people that showed leadership in a time of crisis.
MedTech Dive’s editors and journalists selected Mr. Bryant as the medical technology industry’s Executive of the Year in part because his pre-COVID strategy of developing rapid immunoassay technologies and building out point-of-care antigen testing for infectious diseases and conditions such as flu, RSV and strep positioned the company for success when the pandemic hit. MedTech Dive credited Mr. Bryant for redirecting Quidel to focus on the COVID-19 virus and dramatically increasing production of its diagnostic tests.
“While I am honored by this recognition, I accept it on behalf of the entire Quidel Team, which has truly stepped up to the challenge of diagnosing and defeating the COVID-19 virus,” Mr. Bryant said. “I am extremely proud to be part of an outstanding organization that is, quite literally, advancing the frontline response to this pandemic with continuous innovation and disciplined execution.”
“Our mission at Quidel is to democratize access to accurate, affordable and, where necessary, frequent testing all across America,” Mr. Bryant emphasized. “We see it as a moral obligation. It drives us.”
Quidel was the first company to receive Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the FDA for a rapid antigen test that delivers results in 15 minutes. Quidel’s Sofia® SARS Antigen FIA set the bar for antigen test performance at 96.7% PPA vs. PCR and has proven to be critical to both COVID-19 detection and disease surveillance when combined with Quidel’s proprietary Virena® data management system, which provides aggregated, de-identified testing data to the CDC and other public health authorities in near real-time.
Quidel’s COVID-19 leadership extended from R&D to manufacturing as the company doubled production of its rapid antigen test to over two million tests a week in the third quarter. The company plans to triple that production to six million tests per week in mid-2021 to address the strong demand for testing, treatment and tracing that will continue alongside the introduction of vaccines.
MedTech Dive noted, “The San Diego-based diagnostics company has delivered record profit and revenue over two successive quarters since the coronavirus pandemic took hold.”
