One minute it was in; the next minute, it was out.

We’re talking about “Curative,” a California startup whose COVID-19 test kits became widely used almost overnight, including here in Los Angeles. L.A. County and other locations have stopped using the tests over questions about their accuracy, but the city of L.A. is still using them.

In an interview for LA Times Today, host Lisa McRee spoke to Los Angeles Times reporter Laurence Darmiento about the company’s sudden rise, its stumbles, and now, its uncertain future. 

What You Need To Know

  • Curative is a California startup whose COVID-19 test kits became widely used almost overnight, including in Los Angeles County

  • L.A. County and other locations have stopped using the tests over questions about their accuracy, but the city of L.A. is still using them

  • Curative was founded by Fred Turner, a 25-year-old who dropped out of Oxford to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams

  • In one year, Curative has gone from fewer than a dozen employees to conducting more than 17 million COVID-19 tests

Curative was founded by Fred Turner, a 25-year-old who dropped out of Oxford to pursue his entrepreneurial dreams.

“What they did with this startup company, was they took that task, and they tweaked it, and they made it so you could test your oral fluids. So this was the test that was in Dodger Stadium. They came up with a test then that could use a swab to find out whether or not someone might be positive for COVID-19,” said Darmiento.

In one year, Curative has gone from fewer than a dozen employees to conducting more than 17 million COVID-19 tests.

“At one point, this test exploded. And yet, it had been a company looking into sepsis, which is a blood infection, but it quickly pivoted into COVID. At one point this year, they claim to be testing 10% of all people in the United States. Currently, they say they are testing 7%, which is about 100,000 a week. So they are going pretty strong in terms of the number of tests they are doing,” added Darmiento.

Despite the number of COVID tests done by Curative, questions have been raised about the test’s accuracy.

“The standard test which collects this virus behind your nose is considered extremely accurate. According to Curative, the problem with that test is that people who are no longer infectious may still be tested positive, maybe weeks after they first had the virus. So, Curative claims that its test only found people that were actually infectious, and it did some studies to prove that. But, the FDA did not buy it. And on January 4th, they issued a safety communication telling patients in the United States, public health authorities, and doctors that the test should not be used this way," said Darmiento.

"The test had a very limited way to be used that was approved by the FDA. It was only approved for use by people who had symptoms within the last 14 days, and they had to be monitored and observed. But the key thing is that they are supposed to have symptoms. However, cities like Los Angeles used it on anyone because they believed that it was better to have a test that was fast and accurate," Darmiento added.

Various states and counties have dropped Curative because of the accuracy of their COVID-19 test results.

“The company lost customers; it lost the state of Colorado, it lost L.A. County, but it did not lose the city of L.A. Mayor Garrett believes that even if it was not perfect, it still caught 96,000 cases of people who did not have symptoms, yet they tested positive in the Curative test. However, others say if you tell someone that they are negative when they are not negative, in reality, they are going to go around acting like they are negative when they are positive. And that could infect people. So, that was the concern of the FDA, and it is a big problem for Curative,” said Darmiento. 

Related Stories

To improve Curative’s reputation, Turner submitted the results of two clinical studies to the FDA. The studies were designed and carried out on his employees.

“Curative has tested its 4,000 employees every day. So there is this huge database of people they could conduct trials on. So, he worked up a trial in less than two weeks. This trial tested people who had the virus within three weeks and after three weeks. They claim the study shows that their test is as accurate as the standard test within three weeks when people are infectious. But it did not pick up as many positives afterward. The FDA has not stated its opinion, and the scientific community is also out on this. You have people that feel strongly that Curative may be barking up the right tree here. But others do not believe it,” added Darmiento.