Lumos Diagnostics Names Former U.S. Surgeon General as Strategic Healthcare Adviser

Lumos Diagnostics, a leader in rapid point-of-care (POC) diagnostic technologies, has named Jerome Adams, M.D., MPH, as Strategic Healthcare Adviser and appointed him to its Medical Advisory Board. From 2017 to 2021, Adams served as the 20th Surgeon General of the United States.
 
As the immediate former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Adams brings a real-world public health perspective to the ongoing impact of global issues such as antimicrobial resistance and COVID-19. Utilizing his robust knowledge of public health, public policy and health equity, Dr. Adams will advise Lumos on the effective deployment of its POC diagnostic technologies, beginning with the launch of the FebriDx test in approved markets. FebriDx is a novel fingerstick blood test that can differentiate if a person has a bacterial or viral infection, which often have overlapping signs and symptoms, within 10 minutes. The patented, dual biomarker FebriDx test is approved for sale in Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, and is currently under review for sale in the United States.
 
“The pressing health challenges of the last 18 months have highlighted the importance of diagnostic testing as one of the key tools to fight both the current pandemic as well as the looming pandemic of antimicrobial resistance,” said Adams. “We need to get ahead of these problems with a truly accessible outpatient solution. By measuring a patient’s immune system response in addition to assessing symptoms, clinicians can quickly determine if the patient has a bacterial infection requiring antibiotics, a viral infection that may benefit from additional confirmatory testing, or no infection that allows a safe return to school or work—all while reducing unnecessary antibiotics.”
 
Performance from a prospective multi-center U.S. clinical trial demonstrates the FebriDx test’s high accuracy, with a 95 percent sensitivity to identify bacterial infection and 99 percent negative predictive value (NPV) to rule out bacterial infection. Outcome studies show that FebriDx can alter clinical management decisions in 48 percent of patients tested and may reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions by approximately 80 percent. Further, the test has been shown to have a 99 percent NPV to rule out symptomatic COVID-19 infection, making it an ideal rapid triage test. FebriDx viral positive patients may be confirmed as COVID-19 with a molecular or rapid antigen test including the Lumos CoviDx test. Using FebriDx as an initial testing strategy provides a cost-effective approach to managing outpatient respiratory infections.
 
Rob Sambursky, M.D., Lumos president and CEO, stated, “Lumos has found a match in our passion for public health in Dr. Adams. Together, we intend to make a meaningful impact for millions of patients each year by improving global access to innovative, cost-effective rapid diagnostic test solutions.”
 
As Surgeon General, Adams oversaw 6,500 uniformed health officers in nearly 600 locations around the world serving to promote, protect and advance health and safety. In addition to serving on the frontline of the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as Surgeon General Adams worked to combat the opioid epidemic, rising rates of chronic disease, the impacts of rising suicide rates, promoted maternal health and helped businesses can become better stewards and stakeholders in promoting community health and equitable access to healthcare resources. Adams currently serves as assistant professor of clinical anesthesia at Indiana University and practices as a staff anesthesiologist at Eskenazi Health.
 
Lumos Diagnostics specializes in rapid, cost-effective and complete point-of-care (POC) diagnostic test technology to help healthcare professionals more accurately diagnose and manage medical conditions. Lumos offers customized assay development and manufacturing services for POC tests and proprietary digital reader platforms. Lumos also directly develops, manufactures, and commercializes Lumos-branded POC tests that target infectious and inflammatory diseases.