Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp sit at the top of laboratory testing but there is a new player coming to the space.

SG Blocks, a designer of container-based structures is entering the lab test market through a joint venture with Clarity Diagnostics.

The joint venture will be called Clarity Modular Lab Solutions (CMLS). Under the terms of the joint venture, SG Blocks will have 51% majority interest in CMLS.

The vision behind CMLS is to reduce barriers to diagnostic testing to enable the best possible medical outcomes. The labs are expected to be located in high-risk areas, densely populated, or regional hubs for rural U.S.

CMLS’s first CLIA lab contract, “Lab 1,” will construct a redundant main lab outside of Boca Raton, Fla. The contract has been signed and is scheduled to be completed within 12 months, with the design build already underway.

The joint venture was formed with COVID-19 being the initial project, however, the lab will be able to process all types of diagnostic tests in a CLIA-certified lab environment, including screening for cancer, influenza, swine flu, opioids, enzymes, upper respiratory illness, and urinary tract infections.

In a release, Paul Galvin, CEO of SG Blocks commented, “As the nation grapples with COVID-19, the need for continuous testing has emerged, and thus has the need for increasing the number of CLIA-certified labs that can process diagnostic tests at the point of sample collection. We are leveraging our earlier experience with OSANG to form this joint venture and place SG Blocks into the enormous, highly profitable CLIA laboratory market. CLIA certification has rigorous licensing qualifications, helping to ensure a limited supply of labs and a high barrier to entry. Furthermore, it is a massive and extraordinary business opportunity to be able to combine Clarity’s PCR testing expertise and CLIA lab certification, with SG Blocks’ modular, relocatable, expandable facilities.”