A rapid test importer landed an estimated $2 billion in federal contracts in 2021 and 2022, despite giving regulators incomplete data about its product\u2019s accuracy, Global News has found.<\/p>\n
A year-long investigation into federal procurement revealed that BTNX, a small rapid test supplier based outside Toronto, deleted dozens of specimens, or samples, from a study it submitted to Health Canada. That evaluation showed how well the company\u2019s test detected COVID-19.<\/p>\n
The deletions made BTNX\u2019s test appear more reliable and sensitive than it really was, according to researchers Global News consulted.<\/p>\n
The device could detect the virus in users who were the most contagious, but results from leading regulators\u2019 evaluation programs indicate BTNX\u2019s test was much less dependable in all other cases.<\/p>\n
This apparent flaw meant the test kit was more likely to produce false-negative results which, many experts said, put Canadian lives at risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s outrageous that the public wasn\u2019t as aware of the discrepancies in the testings that had real-life implications,\u201d said Jillian Kohler, director of the University of Toronto\u2019s World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Governance, Transparency and Accountability in the Pharmaceutical Sector.<\/p>\n
Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada bought 404 million tests from BTNX, which became ubiquitous during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Now, as Canadians gather for the holidays amid reports of an uptick of COVID-19 infections and the emergence of new variants, many may still have the original, lime-green kits with the code COV-19C25 in their homes. Some pharmacies, schools and daycares still distribute them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A rapid test importer landed an estimated $2 billion in federal contracts in 2021 and 2022, despite giving regulators incomplete data about its product\u2019s accuracy, Global News has found.<\/p>\n
A year-long investigation into federal procurement revealed that BTNX, a small rapid test supplier based outside Toronto, deleted dozens of specimens, or samples, from a study it submitted to Health Canada. That evaluation showed how well the company\u2019s test detected COVID-19.<\/p>\n
The deletions made BTNX\u2019s test appear more reliable and sensitive than it really was, according to researchers Global News consulted.<\/p>\n