Longhorn Vaccines & Diagnostics' PrimeStore^® MTM Validated with New Data for Large-Scale, Global TB Screening

GAITHERSBURG, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Longhorn Vaccines & Diagnostics (“Longhorn”), a One Health company developing antibodies and diagnostic tools for global public health and zoonosis concerns, today announced compelling new data validating the utility of various swab samples processed with PrimeStore^® MTM for tuberculosis (TB) detection in both pediatric clinical settings and large-scale community screening. The findings were divided into two presentations and presented by TB and viral infection specialist Sharon L. Olifant, a PhD student in Medical Microbiology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, at The Union World Conference on Lung Health 2025.

“In pediatric patients who can be hard to test for tuberculosis, tongue and rectal swabs processed in PrimeStore MTM provide a non-invasive, stable, and highly informative sample type for detecting TB in such vulnerable populations. When looking at TB populations on a global scale, batch-processed tongue swabs specifically offer a cost-effective, high-throughput solution for large-scale screening,” said Jeff Fischer, President of Longhorn Vaccines & Diagnostics. “Together, these capabilities reduce logistical barriers, make case-finding easier, and have the potential to transform the way we diagnose and treat TB worldwide.”

Researchers from the first study titled, “qPCR batch-processed tongue swabs as screening tool for large-scale community-based case-finding of TB,” collected PrimeStore MTM tongue swabs from 914 household contacts of confirmed TB patients in Buffalo City, South Africa, which were then shipped non-refrigerated to Pretoria for centralized qPCR processing.

• The study achieved 98% participant acceptance, with TB detected in 4.9% of swab samples.
• Among paired samples, swab qPCR demonstrated 56.5% sensitivity and 96.7% specificity compared to sputum-based Xpert Ultra, with 83% concordance for medium/high sputum positives.
• Additionally, 3.4% of individuals without sputum samples tested positive via swabs, highlighting the PrimeStore MTM’s value for triaging in resource-limited settings.

In the second study titled, “Tongue and rectal swab samples processed by manual qPCR enhance clinical decision-making in paediatric patients with presumptive tuberculosis,” researchers from the University of Pretoria evaluated tongue and rectal swabs collected from 45 children under age five with symptoms of TB. Samples were stabilized in PrimeStore MTM and batch-processed using manual qPCR.

• Results showed that 35.6% of patients tested positive by qPCR, despite all gastric aspirate and sputum samples returning negative results under standard-of-care (SOC) protocols.
• Importantly, only 2 of the 16 qPCR-positive patients were initiated on treatment based on SOC, underscoring the potential of swab-based qPCR to identify cases missed by conventional diagnostics.

The Union World Conference on Lung Health took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, from November 18-21, 2025.

For more information about Longhorn and PrimeStore MTM, visit www.LHNVD.com.

About Longhorn Vaccines and Diagnostics
Longhorn Vaccines and Diagnostics is a closely held One Health company based in Maryland that is developing broad coverage monoclonal antibodies and diagnostic tools for worldwide public health concerns such as anti-microbial resistance, inflammatory and metabolic disease, sepsis and to prevent future pandemics. Since its inception in 2006, Longhorn has focused on developing broad coverage antibodies and diagnostic tools that can impact a pandemic on a global scale and at all socio-economic levels. Since pandemics flow between humans and animals, Longhorn products play a significant role to surveil, diagnose, prevent and treat the next infectious disease.