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Galaxy Diagnostics CEO/President Amanda Elam provides an update on what Galaxy is doing to care for customers, team members and the communities that we serve throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
Navigating the Path from Pandemic Crisis to Business Recovery
At Galaxy, our number one priority during this crisis is keeping people safe. We are focused on this goal for our employees, our customers, and our community. As an essential service, Galaxy continues lab testing to serve our clinician clients as well as our patient population, many of whom are chronically ill. We are following CDC-recommended protocols to protect our employees from exposure and some staff members are working remotely or under a staggered testing schedule, where possible, to reduce person-to-person contact. We are also taking this infection very seriously in terms of the potential risks to our patients and our community.
COVID-19 is the disease caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). It is considered a zoonotic disease, having passed from animals to humans. This makes it a One Health topic with many parallels to some of the diagnosis, testing, and treatment issues that we have encountered with Lyme borreliosis (Lyme Disease) and bartonellosis medical innovation and discovery. Similarities include:
- Unknown asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic rates
- Variations in disease presentations and severity
- Limited treatment protocols
- Technical testing challenges
The key difference is that we deal with slow-growing bacteria every day with limited research funding and slowly emerging clinical importance, whereas COVID-19 is a fast-spreading disease with rapid morbidity and mortality, an urgent need for clinical solutions, and significant support for clinical development and commercialization.
Many people believe the healthcare sector is overwhelmed but economically stable during this crisis. However, the physician clinics we serve are undergoing significant transition to telemedicine and limiting in-person office visits. The most recent industry figures show that this shift in medical practice has resulted in a drop in test orders for clinical labs and that drop is reflected in the order totals at our lab. We have applied for federal business relief which will support payroll and keep both our testing and research services going over the next couple of months until our customers find their new normal routines for patient care. To complicate matters a bit more for our team and our customers, we moved our lab to a bigger space just up the road on April 20. (Click here for operational details.) Overall, we are confident that we will make it through the pandemic crisis and economic shutdown with our whole company healthy and well positioned for whatever comes next.
To that effect, life on the other side of the crisis looks promising. We are especially excited about upcoming improvements to our existing test services and some excellent new offerings for detection of Lyme Borrelia and Bartonella infections, scheduled for launch this year.
We are so very grateful to our customers and the partners working with us to improve diagnosis and outcomes for families and pets with flea- and tick-borne diseases. Meanwhile, we continue to serve our community through medical education and outreach on topics related directly to our flea and tick-borne disease expertise as well as information on COVID-19 and more general infectious disease fundamentals. We are all in this together. Please follow our blog and social media to learn more.
Best wishes from Team Galaxy to you, your family, and friends,
Amanda Elam, PhD
President/CEO
Galaxy Diagnostics, Inc.
About Galaxy Diagnostics:
As a social venture and a One Health company, Galaxy Diagnostics is passionate about protecting the animal-human bond through the surveillance, prevention, and clinical management of flea- and tick-borne diseases shared between humans and animals. Not only do we offer the best molecular and serology test options available, but we work with researchers and clinicians to generate new knowledge about emerging infectious diseases including bartonellosis, borreliosis and other vector-borne diseases. Based on our scientific expertise, we are able to provide counsel to clinicians and researchers dedicated to achieving the most accurate diagnosis possible for their patients. This central goal is reflected in our corporate values and everyday interaction with patients, clinicians, and researchers.