XWELL and PieQ Advance AI-Powered Biosecurity Forecasting Following CDC Milestone
Rhea-AI Summary
XWELL (Nasdaq: XWEL) formed a strategic partnership with PieQ to embed AI-driven forecasting into U.S. biosecurity operations supporting the CDC's Traveler-based Genomic Surveillance program, which surpassed one million voluntary participants.
The joint platform uses real-time aviation, passenger flows, seasonal travel patterns, and risk models to forecast traveler arrivals at city and flight levels to prioritize sampling and scale testing ahead of major events such as the 2026 World Cup. The system currently supports operations at seven airports, eight nasal sampling stations, and three wastewater sites.
Positive
- Partnership embeds AI forecasting into frontline biosecurity operations
- Supports operations across 7 airports, 8 nasal sampling stations, and 3 wastewater sites
- Aims to forecast arrivals at city and flight levels for proactive resource deployment
- Designed to scale during peak events like the 2026 World Cup
Negative
- Current coverage limited to 7 airports and selected collection sites
- Program relies on voluntary participation despite one million participants
Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
XWEL is down 1.71% while peers show mixed moves: BIAF +12.02%, CHEK +2.55%, MYNZ -4.24%, ADVB -5.37%, ISPC -6.06%. Momentum scans flag only BIAF moving down 7.09% without news, suggesting today’s setup is stock-specific rather than a broad sector AI/biosecurity trade.
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 08 | Biosecurity leadership hire | Positive | +0.6% | Appointed former CDC TGS director as senior advisor to guide expansion. |
| Dec 18 | Retail expansion | Positive | -2.3% | Opened new wellness retail site at New York Penn Station transit hub. |
| Nov 14 | Q3 2025 earnings | Neutral | +0.1% | Reported Q3 results with revenue, modest loss, and CDC program extension. |
| Nov 05 | Product collaboration | Neutral | -1.1% | Launched co-branded Blue Breeze Eye Mask across airport wellness locations. |
| Oct 30 | Partnership expansion | Positive | -2.3% | Expanded Priority Pass wellness access to Middle East and European airports. |
Recent operational and partnership announcements often produced modest or even negative next-day moves, indicating limited immediate price follow-through on positive news.
Over the past few months, XWEL has focused on expanding wellness and biosecurity operations. On Oct 30, it broadened its Priority Pass partnership internationally, yet shares fell 2.27%. A co-branded eye mask launch on Nov 5 and Penn Station retail expansion on Dec 18 also saw small negative moves. Conversely, Q3 2025 results on Nov 14 and the Jan 8, 2026 biosecurity advisor appointment drew slight gains. Today’s AI-powered CDC support fits the ongoing shift toward traveler-based biosecurity initiatives.
Regulatory & Risk Context
An effective S-3/A shelf dated 2025-06-20 registers 30,440,060 common shares for resale tied to Series G preferred, warrants, and dividend shares—roughly 557% of common stock outstanding as of June 18, 2025—highlighting potential dilution if those securities are fully issued.
Market Pulse Summary
This announcement reinforces XWEL’s strategy of integrating AI with traveler-based biosurveillance, building on the CDC TGS program’s milestone of over 1,000,000 participants and current coverage across 7 airports, 8 nasal sampling stations, and 3 wastewater sites. It extends earlier moves to deepen biosecurity capabilities and international reach. Investors may track execution at scale around major events and weigh these advances against prior SEC disclosures on liquidity, going-concern risks, and potential dilution from registered resale shares.
Key Terms
predictive intelligence technical
agentic ai technical
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
Predictive intelligence platform strengthens biosurveillance prioritization and planning ahead of major global travel events
NEW YORK, Feb. 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- XWELL Inc. (Nasdaq: XWEL), a provider of wellness and biosecurity solutions, today announced a strategic partnership with AI and predictive intelligence company PieQ to develop a next-generation U.S. biosecurity forecasting platform in support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The announcement follows a recent CDC milestone for the Traveler-based Genomic Surveillance (TGS) program — part of the Biothreat Radar Detection System — which has surpassed one million voluntary participants with XWELL and Ginkgo Biosecurity.
Building on this milestone, the collaboration embeds AI-driven forecasting directly into frontline biosecurity operations, enabling XWELL teams to collect more samples from more locations by prioritizing where resources can have the greatest impact. The joint platform analyzes real-time global aviation data, passenger flows, seasonal travel patterns, and advanced risk models to forecast international traveler arrivals at the city and flight-levels.
By predicting where international travelers will enter the United States before they arrive, the system allows public health officials to proactively plan and scale biosecurity operations, expanding testing capacity and strengthening early detection, rather than reacting after exposure risks emerge.
“Effective biosecurity depends on foresight, not hindsight,” said Ezra Ernst, CEO of XWELL. “The CDC’s TGS program already enables early detection of emerging biological threats. This partnership takes that foundation further — using AI to help us be more targeted, more efficient, and ultimately collect more samples from more places. By forecasting where risk is likely to emerge, we can expand our testing capacity and deploy biosecurity resources where they will be most effective, strengthening early detection for the entire Biothreat Radar Detection system.”
The partnership is designed to serve as a next-generation intelligence layer for U.S. biosecurity, grounded in real-world testing during periods of heightened global mobility. These include anticipated surges in U.S.-bound travel around major international events, such as the 2026 World Cup. Used strictly as an example of peak travel demand, such moments create a high-pressure environment to demonstrate that AI-powered forecasting can perform reliably at a national scale.
The system simplifies biosecurity decision-making — moving from airport-level visibility to city and flight-level prediction, from static, historical assumptions to live intelligence, and from reactive response to proactive, preventive protection. As global travel accelerates, predictive intelligence is becoming essential to scaling surveillance capacity without sacrificing precision.
Currently, the platform supports operations across seven airports, including eight nasal sampling stations, and three wastewater collection sites, monitoring thousands of international travelers each week. Rather than simply expanding coverage, AI-enabled biosecurity will allow the program to function as a global intercept network — using predictive insights into passenger movement to pre-position resources at the right ports and at the right times, enabling more precise, efficient sampling as travelers enter the United States.
“This partnership with XWELL reflects exactly the kind of impact-driven AI work PieQ was built to deliver,” said Bhavik Patel, founder and CEO of PieQ. “By combining XWELL’s frontline biosecurity expertise with our agentic AI platform, FLOW, we are advancing biosecurity from reactive monitoring to predictive intelligence that helps surface emerging risks earlier, prioritize action in real time, and operate reliably at scale in complex, real-world environments.”
By adding predictive intelligence to an already proven surveillance program, the XWELL-PieQ partnership establishes a scalable model for future pandemics, mass global events, and evolving biosecurity threats.
For more information about XWELL and its biosecurity initiatives, visit www.xwell.com.
About XWELL, Inc.
XWELL, Inc. (Nasdaq: XWEL) is redefining the modern wellness experience. Through its portfolio of brands — XpresSpa®, Naples Wax Center®, XpresCheck®, and HyperPointe™ — XWELL makes self-care accessible, elevated, and entirely on your terms. With locations in airports and metropolitan areas worldwide, XWELL helps people feel their best wherever life takes them.
About PieQ:
PieQ is an AI-native technology company building intelligent, agent-driven platforms for regulated and operationally complex industries. Its proprietary Agentic AI Platform, FLOW, orchestrates data ingestion, predictive modeling, and autonomous workflows to turn complex, real-time data into actionable intelligence. PieQ partners with organizations across healthcare, insurance, and hospitality to design and deploy AI systems that improve decision-making, operational readiness, and real-world outcomes. Learn more at www.pieq.ai.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These include statements preceded by, followed by or that otherwise include the words "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "projects," "intends," "should," "seeks," "future," "continue," or the negative of such terms, or other comparable terminology. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements include, without limitation: the anticipated use of proceeds from the private placement. Forward-looking statements relating to expectations about future results or events are based upon information available to XWELL as of the date of this press release, and are not guarantees of the future performance of the Company, and actual results may vary materially from the results and expectations discussed. Additional information concerning these and other risks is contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as amended, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning XWELL, or other matters and attributable to XWELL or any person acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above. XWELL does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date hereof.
Valentina Marmolejo (vmarmolejo@mww.com)
FAQ
What did XWEL (XWEL) announce with PieQ on February 3, 2026?
How does the XWEL-PieQ platform forecast international traveler arrivals?
What operational footprint does the AI-enabled biosecurity platform currently support?
How will the XWEL and PieQ partnership affect preparedness for the 2026 World Cup?
What role does the CDC's TGS milestone play in this collaboration?
