WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (KDVR) — A local independent clinical laboratory is helping in the fight against COVID-19 by processing hundreds of tests from around the country each day.

“This is definitely small business at its finest, trying to help our local community,” said Beau Gertz, President and Co-founder of Verdosome.

Verdosome, located in Wheat Ridge, started in 2019 as a pharmacode genetic testing laboratory but quickly adjusted to focus on COVID-19 testing after the pandemic started. 

“It was a hard decision but in the laboratory space, pretty much everything right now is COVID related,” said Gertz.

The lab operates out of a small space with just enough room to pull off the multi-step process of collecting, extracting and isolating samples from COVID-19 tests before eventually getting a positive or negative result. 

It took the small startup months to get the necessary equipment and FDA approval. Gertz says they currently have the capacity to process 1,000 specimens with a 24-hour turnaround time.

Verdosome has also developed a saliva test. Gertz says it’s not yet FDA approved, but based on an internal study they believe it to be as accurate as a nasal swab test.

“It’s a foam applicator that goes underneath your tongue and once there’s a sufficient amount of saliva that’s collected, the indicator turns red,” Gertz said.

They’ve already processed thousands of samples collected with this method, Gertz says. The company is still small but has hopes to expand soon.

“We’ve been in communications with the state so that we can be an overflow laboratory or be able to do draw sites,” said Gertz.