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ID Solutions, a startup that became the master of detection kits for Covid-19 and variants

Information mise à jour le 14/12/21

During the health crisis, the company applied its extensive expertise in PCR technology for cancer to help in the fight against the pandemic. This is known as successful diversification.

Lise Grewis, directrice générale de ID Solutions - 3M ©Maugendre David

Lise Grewis, General Manager at ID Solutions - 3M ©David Maugendre

A mobilization effort that was well rewarded. Founded in 2016, ID Solutions diversified its activity by developing a Covid-19 detection kit at the height of the health crisis.

“The Montpellier CHU hospital and Inovie group were both running short on tests. As they were familiar with our know-how in terms of PCR technologies, they asked us to create a kit they could use,” explains Lise Grewis, the company’s General Manager.

Specialized in designing innovative tools for diagnostics research and development in oncology, ID Solutions then developed its first Covid-19 PCR test kit. The need was huge in France and the demand rose quickly, especially given the emergence of virus variants.
 
Hosted by Innovative Diagnostics in Grabels, just north of Montpellier, ID Solutions was then confronted with a serious space problem.

“We needed space for production, and we needed to expand our teams. It was a question of survival! We talked about it with Montpellier Métropole. They found a solution for us right away. Their teams reacted very quickly. It would have been much harder for us without their help,” highlights Lise Grewis.

The company was able to relocate to a 750 m² space in the Biopôle Euromédecine science park, where it could face its growth challenges. That was essential. In November, ID Solutions was even contacted to develop a kit that could distinguish between the flu and Covid-19. Then, when the British variant (now called Alpha) emerged, the company created a new kit that could detect all known variants. The effort was also a success.
 
By the end of the year, the young company had acquired over 200 new clients, not just hospitals and biology laboratories, but also veterinary laboratories,” explains Lise Grewis. And that’s just the start. ID Solutions is now launching a new kit that also detects the Delta variant found in India. The new kit that makes detection so efficient is called “ID Sars-Cov-2/Voc Evolution Pentaflex”.

“It will also rapidly identify carriers of any of the variants so they can be isolated,” says Lise Grewis.

The company continues its climb. Since the beginning of the health crisis, staff size grew from eight to 48 employees. ID Solutions also decided to acquire its own facilities, with cleanrooms and a surface area of 1,300 m², close to the Montpellier Cancer Institute in the Euromédecine area. They will relocate within the coming year.  Until then, they still have a need for storage space.

“Montpellier Métropole and SERM are helping us look for the space we need,” add Lise Grewis, whose company decided to use the revenue from its latest diversification to accelerate R&D in its core business, diagnostics for oncology.

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