Purdue Partners With Colorado Company to Offer Rapid Testing for Students Ahead of Spring 2021 Semester

Purdue University is partnering with a Colorado company led by a Purdue alum to offer rapid antigen COVID-19 testing for undergraduate, graduate and professional students taking classes on the West Lafayette campus who will be living off campus (not in the residence halls or in Fraternity, Sorority and Cooperative Life housing) during the spring 2021 semester.

The Protect Purdue Health Center, as part of its comprehensive pre-arrival testing strategy, will team with Boulder-based Biodesix Inc. (Nasdaq: BDSX) to test more than 20,000 residential students for COVID-19 who will be living off campus during the spring semester from Jan. 9 through Jan. 22. Purdue is covering the costs of this test as part of its Protect Purdue initiative.

Students who will be living on campus (in residence halls or in Fraternity, Sorority and Cooperative Life housing) for the spring semester and those who are returning to campus from outside the United States will be tested separately. Testing of faculty and staff is also conducted separately.

Results of the rapid test, which uses a simple nasal swab to collect the sample, are expected to be available within 30 minutes and delivered to students via text message with a link to secure results. Each participating student will receive instructions on how to register for testing, schedule an appointment and complete testing through an easy, secure online portal.

“Adding a COVID-19 rapid test capability to our comprehensive Protect Purdue pre-arrival testing strategy through this Biodesix partnership builds on the effectiveness of our efforts this fall to safely reopen campus for in-person classroom instructi