Two Liberty alumni join forces to gain FDA EUA authorization of COVID-19 test kit

When David Jack (’13) and Sarah Robinson (’13,’15, ’20) met as sophomores at Liberty University in 2010, their bond of friendship was formed from a mutual desire to serve others. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, that bond has brought them together again to help combat the spread of the virus.

Jack, a social entrepreneur with a background in healthcare technology and venture capital, and Robinson, a recent graduate of Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM), worked together to gain authorization from the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to distribute a COVID-19 test kit made by a South Korean healthcare company. The test is currently in use in the U.S., including by FEMA, and millions are being supplied around the world.

The GeneFinder COVID-19 Plus RealAmp Kit has many unique aspects: testing can be processed at most labs around the world, results are 99.999 % accurate, and, though existing products limit testing to one patient every 15 minutes, the kit allows for up to 384 patients to be tested in a two-hour period.

But before the highly sought-after, lifesaving product could be brought to market, Jack and Robinson spent countless hours working with their partners in South Korea and their team members in the U.S. to submit an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) request to the FDA.

“We worked directly with the FDA for over two months,” Jack said. “It was hard work that required many phone calls and lots of strategic coordination, but it’s all in the service of saving lives and working toward the greater good.”

“Working with the FDA was a vital component to reaching our goal which is to get this test into as many hands as possible because we feel it is an essential key to help end the spread of COVID-19,” Robinson added.

Jack transferred to Liberty to study in the School of Business. Robinson came to Liberty to play soccer for the Flames and study pre-medicine and chemistry. When the two became friends, they discovered they had similar family backgrounds and had experienced some of the same hardships. Jack, for example, grew up fighting the opioid crisis alongside his parents as they founded New York Teen Challenge, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. Both Jack and Robinson wanted to use their future careers to help other families. They stayed in touch after Jack graduated and left Lynchburg to work in the area of healthcare patient experience and technology. He is currently working out of an office in Washington, D.C. Robinson said she originally never intended to be a doctor, but through a series of providential circumstances, she earned her third degree from Liberty when she graduated from LUCOM this spring. She will be doing her family medicine residency at MedStar Franklin Square Center near Baltimore, Md.

In February, Jack said he and the team of medical supply and logistics experts at Fidus SBG saw the possibility of COVID-19 becoming a global crisis and they knew testing was going to be very important in combating the virus. As they began searching for a proven supplier for tests, Jack knew he could use his friend’s help. He remembered that Robinson had been an intern at a biomedical diagnostics laboratory.

“I thought of Sarah immediately because of her medical background and she had worked in a lab that used the same technology that our test is built upon,” Jack said.

“I am trained as a medical professional but I was unable to help (as a doctor) because I’m a graduating medical student waiting to start residency in June,” she said. “So many friends and family members who are in the medical field are on the front lines, so working on the FDA authorization was a perfect opportunity to contribute, even from behind the scenes.”

While their work of bringing the test to market is still in the early stages, they have already received interest for tens of millions of kits and hoping that it turns into something that will help large population groups. They believe that since COVID-19 testing will be the crux of easing restrictions worldwide, their efforts to make the test more available can help restore economic stability as well as save lives.

“It was an incredible experience working directly with the FDA alongside a fellow Liberty alumnus to embody the spirit of being a Champion for Christ and work to save lives” Jack said. “Sarah and I are now leading the charge to help scale COVID-19 testing to hospitals, labs, counties, states, and at the federal level, and across the globe in 13 other nations. But, an even greater experience is the opportunity to embody the spirit of a CHAMPION and work together with a world-class team to save lives and get our economy and land back to the new normal around the horizon.”

The South Korean company has the manufacturing capability to supply millions of tests in a matter of weeks, which is an important factor as the global healthcare system is currently grappling with accessing an adequate supply of tests, Jack said. The test kit provides a very cost-effective solution which could save the U.S. healthcare system alone hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Every second that we are not working to get this validated and into the hands of providers of care — agencies, states, countries — is a life lost,” Robinson said. “You can’t get more motivated to act on your passion than knowing that lives are at stake.”