Verralize’s portable biosensor testing delivers rapid pathogen detection for animal health, biosecurity monitoring, and early One Health surveillance.

For livestock producers, veterinarians, and biosecurity teams, delayed answers can carry real operational consequences. When suspected infection appears in a flock, herd, or mixed-animal environment, the time between sampling and action can determine whether a problem is contained early or allowed to spread. Conventional laboratory workflows remain essential, but they often require sample transport, batching, and centralised processing that can slow practical decision-making in the field.

At Verralize Precision Testing, we have developed a portable biosensor platform to address this problem. Our device is a handheld system built around modular eight-sensor arrays, with newer prototypes incorporating 16- and 32-sensor configurations. The platform uses a universal architecture that can be functionalised for H5N1, PRRS, and other potential targets. Verralize is designed for rapid, point-of-need pathogen detection: it supports quantitative, multi-pathogen testing with minimal sample preparation and delivers results in approximately 10–15 minutes on site using an artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML)-based analysis algorithm. If the user desires, this result can be shared instantaneously with interested animal health professionals, thus helping control endemics and prevent pandemics.

The detection challenge

Animal health and biosecurity teams increasingly need fast, field-deployable tools that can support outbreak response, routine surveillance, and rapid operational screening. In practice, the challenge is not simply whether a pathogen can be detected, but whether the result can be obtained quickly enough to guide containment, movement controls, cleaning, treatment planning, or escalation to confirmatory testing.

This is especially relevant for targets such as highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), where speed, portability, and ease of deployment can materially improve the response window. Our platform is designed to address that need with a reusable analyser, disposable consumables, modular sensor arrays, and algorithm-assisted signal analysis that fit real farm and veterinary workflows.

Our innovative approach

At the core of our platform is a multiplexed array of nanocarbon-based sensors designed for selective RNA/DNA hybridisation and early pathogen detection. The architecture supports both single-target and multi-target configurations, allowing us to adapt the same handheld system for different pathogen targets and sampling environments. Rather than creating a separate device for each assay, we are building a reusable biosensor platform that can be configured across multiple animal health and biosecurity applications.

That platform logic matters. For animal health, it positions our system as more than a one-disease test. It is a broader field-deployable diagnostic and surveillance tool that can support veterinary testing, biosecurity screening, and earlier warning at the animal-human interface.

Key technical components

Key technical components include:

• Sensor chemistry: Nanocarbon-based electrochemical sensors configured for pathogen-specific target detection;
• Detection mechanism: Voltage-based electrochemical signal transduction with algorithm-assisted analysis;
• Multiplexing: A modular multi-target format built around an eight-sensor architecture, with a next-generation higher-density array in development;
• Analysis time: Approximately 10–15 minutes from sample introduction to result;
• Sample types: Animal oral swabs, oral fluid, water rinsates, saliva, and related veterinary or biosecurity sampling matrices; and
• Target analytes: Our current animal health focus includes H5N1 and PRRS, with broader platform expansion potential.

System architecture

Our complete platform comprises three main components:

1. Reusable analyser: A portable instrument housing the electronics, signal processing, and user interface;
2. Disposable sample cup: A single-use container for sample introduction; and
3. Sensing lid: A single-use consumable containing the multiplexed sensor array, interfacing with both the sample and analyser.

This modular design supports consistency, ease of use, and field deployment while aligning with a reusable-analyser and disposable-consumables model suited to point-of-need testing. Our workflow follows a simple four-step process: connect the analyser with the Verralize app, collect the sample, insert the sensing lid and run the test, then receive results in approximately 10–15 minutes before the used disposable components are discarded. The Verralize test also decontaminates active viral and bacterial components during the testing process, supporting safer handling and disposal of used components. This simplicity is important in veterinary and farm environments, where testing tools must fit into real operational settings rather than add unnecessary complexity.

Validation and current animal health applications

We are currently collaborating with users and validating the Verralize platform to priority animal health use cases, including H5N1 and PRRS. In our current agricultural veterinary work, H5N1 is being tested from animal oral swabs, while PRRS is being tested from pig oral fluid. These validation studies are helping define how the platform can be applied across additional animal health sampling contexts.

For H5N1, we have verified detection in water rinsates from swabs taken from chickens, dogs, and cats. Alpha testing is being performed at a BSL-3 laboratory in Poland to support CE certification and generate independent validation data on the performance of this platform. For PRRS, we have successfully blind-tested challenging piglet-derived samples, where haemoglobin interference was identified and mitigated, leading to refined saliva-collection guidance. We also see clear value in environmental and biosecurity sampling on PPE, tools, vehicles, and water troughs, where conventional PCR workflows may be too slow or too centralised for routine operational use.

The broader validation story strengthens confidence in the underlying platform. Verralize’s platform has already been used to validate detection of an agricultural virus, PVY (Potato Virus Y), with 99% concordance with qPCR results. In SARS-CoV-2 clinical testing, the platform demonstrated 97% sensitivity, 99% specificity, and 98% accuracy across 274 clinical samples collected in both the USA and Nigeria. Although these datasets come from different applications, they support confidence in the underlying sensor platform and its adaptability across multiple targets and sample matrices.

Strategic validation partner in Poland

For H5N1, we are advancing assay development through a strategic validation partner in Poland. Alpha testing in a BSL-3 laboratory in Poland is helping confirm H5N1 performance after early matrix-interference issues were addressed. We are also in communication with veterinary laboratories in the US to perform validation tests with additional viral and bacterial assays. In parallel, we are reviewing the platform’s user experience, with a focus on maintaining workflow simplicity for field and veterinary use.

These relationships strengthen the platform’s relevance for commercial, veterinary, and partnership discussions, particularly where external validation is an important sign of progress. It also supports our broader goal of building a more user-friendly platform that performs under real-world conditions, not only in controlled internal testing environments.

Applications and use cases

Our portable animal health platform addresses multiple practical applications across veterinary diagnostics and agricultural biosecurity, including:

•   On-farm screening: Rapid assessment of suspected infection in poultry and swine settings;

• Veterinary field diagnostics: Point-of-need support for mobile and practice-based veterinary teams;
• Biosecurity monitoring: Testing of PPE, tools, vehicles, and water troughs;
• Surveillance programmes: Herd, flock, and environmental monitoring workflows; and
• Pre-movement and outbreak-response testing: Faster operational screening before confirmatory central laboratory analysis.

The platform is particularly valuable in time-sensitive settings where waiting days for laboratory results may delay containment decisions, escalation pathways, or follow-up sampling strategies. In practical terms, that means helping users decide faster when to isolate, retest, clean, monitor, or escalate to confirmatory testing.

Market impact and positioning

We see the platform at the intersection of veterinary diagnostics, agricultural biosecurity, and decentralised pathogen surveillance. Our differentiators — rapid turnaround, minimal training, portability, modular sensor design, and environmental sampling relevance — map directly to unmet needs in on-farm herd surveillance, veterinary field diagnostics, biosecurity monitoring, slaughterhouse and pre-movement clearance, and broader surveillance programmes. Veterinary field or clinical use and environmental spot testing also offer practical entry points for early adoption and real-world performance generation

We are not developing the platform as a replacement for confirmatory laboratory testing. Instead, we are building it as a rapid, field-deployable screening and decision-support tool that can improve screening coverage, accelerate response, and strengthen surveillance at the point of origin. We also intend to maintain a competitive price point so the platform can be adopted across a wide range of markets, including resource-limited settings. That makes it relevant not only to producers and veterinary groups, but also to animal health companies, ag-biotech partners, and organisations seeking practical One Health surveillance tools.

Conclusion

Animal health is entering a period in which rapid detection, decentralised testing, and practical surveillance tools will become increasingly important. H5N1, PRRS, and related biosecurity threats require systems that can move faster than traditional centralised workflows while remaining robust enough for real-world agricultural use.

At Verralize Precision Testing, we are developing our portable biosensor platform to meet that need. With modular nanocarbon-based sensor architecture, a simple 10–15-minute workflow, early application data across H5N1 and PRRS, broader validation across agricultural and clinical settings, and external validation support in Poland, we believe we are building a practical new tool for rapid veterinary diagnostics and biosecurity monitoring. Our focus is straightforward: deliver faster answers at the point of need, support better operational decisions, and help strengthen surveillance where it is most important and most relevant.

Please note, this article will also appear in the 26th edition of our quarterly publication.