Following a specific name drop from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a Kelowna company has received a large federal grant to help fight COVID-19. 

Kelowna start-up Metabolic Insights Inc. announced it has been awarded d $300,000 by the Industrial Research Assistance Program of the National Research Council Canada.

That money will go towards repurposing the company’s existing salivary insulin technology to create a prototype for a COVID-19 testing kit called MetX.

“We hope to dramatically shift how testing and monitoring for this and other clinically impactful proteins can occur in the future. Our goal is to be able to detect the COVID-19 virus though a small saliva sample in under 10 minutes,” said David Turner, CEO, in a press release.

Photo Credit: Metabolic Solutions.

According to Metabolic Solutions website, current COVID-19 testing methods are expensive and require a centralized laboratory and qualified personnel.

Currently, tested patients are required to undergo an unpleasant nasal swabbing procedure that can take more than 24-hours to return results.

On Tuesday, Canada announced 759 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the country's total to 96,653 with 7,897 people having died from the virus.