Abbott announce it now has a CE Mark for use of its Panbio™ COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test Device to detect the SARS-COV-2 virus in children age 15 years and younger. The CE Mark is based on the first-ever study focused on the performance of a rapid antigen test on children, including infants. Abbott has received a CE Mark for the use of Panbio COVID-19 Ag with a nasal swab in asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals and for self-collection of samples...

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., a global leader of life science research and clinical diagnostic products, has announced the launch of the Reliance SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Kit (IVD) for European markets after having met the CE-IVD mark requirements. The Reliance SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Kit is a real-time reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR) test that can detect nucleic acid in SARS-CoV-2, the virus associated with COVID-19 disease....

Labs processing 2,000 to 5,000 tests a day can finally enjoy the benefits of Total Laboratory Automation (TLA) with a compact workflow-automation solution that fits needs. Beckman Coulter, a clinical diagnostics leader, has announced the European launch of the DxA 5000 Fit, a workflow-automation solution designed to fit into medium-sized labs that run fewer than 5,000 tests a day...

Panthera has started vaccinating volunteers in Valneva’s double-blind, phase three, COVID prevention trial. The trial will compare Valneva’s inactivated vaccine, VLA2001, with AstraZeneca’s conditionally approved vaccine Vaxzeria. Unlike earlier COVID-19 vaccine trials, which involved a placebo dose, everyone involved in this study will receive two active vaccine doses....

The Native Antigen Company, part of LGC Clinical Diagnostics and one of the world’s leading suppliers of reagents that enables research into diagnostics and vaccines for emerging and endemic infectious diseases, has announced the launch of its SARS-CoV-2 Neutralisation Assay Development Kit. The kit can be used to identify and qualitatively assess the ability of antibodies to neutralise SARS-CoV-2-receptor binding, to support research into variants and their effects on natural and vaccine-induced patient immunity....

Advanced Biological Laboratories (ABL) has announced the CE-IVD registration of its UltraGene® SARS-CoV-2 Triplex Assay, now available for in-vitro diagnostics use. This innovative test is a real-time RT-PCR test intended for the qualitative detection of RNA from the SARS-CoV-2and genomic variations on the Spike (S) gene and on the ORF1ab gene in upper respiratory specimens from individuals suspected of COVID-19 by their healthcare provider....

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., a global leader of life science research and clinical diagnostic products, has announced the launch of the SARS-CoV-2 Variant RT-PCR Assays for research use only (RUO). The assays can detect SARS-CoV-2 (the virus associated with COVID-19) variants of concern, including P.1, B.1.351, and B.1.1.7, by distinguishing specific mutations in SARS-CoV-2 using reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) often prior to a next generation sequencing (NGS) workflow for confirmation....

Designed to improve efficiency, the AFYS3G Recapper for Screw Cap Tubes can be used as a stand-alone instrument or be simply integrated into a fully automated laboratory environment. This makes the recapper ideal for high throughput workflows, to scale-up sample processing for (COVID-19) testing or research, and to relieve researchers from repetitive manual labor. The Sigma96 can (de)cap a whole rack of sample storage tubes in 30 seconds in a single action....

A team of scientists at the University of Glasgow has identified two known cases of human-to-cat COVID-19 transmission in the UK. In the study, led by the University of Glasgow and published in the Veterinary Record, researchers describe two cases of human-to-cat SARS-CoV-2 transmission, found as part of a COVID-19 screening programme of the feline population in the UK....

Researchers have found that a natural molecule can effectively block the binding of a subset of human antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. The discovery may help explain why some COVID-19 patients can become severely ill despite having high levels of antibodies against the virus. In their research, published in Science Advances, teams from the Francis Crick Institute, in collaboration with researchers at Imperial College London, Kings College London and UCL (University College London), found that biliverdin and bilirubin...

Cancer researchers are having to work extremely early in the morning or late into the night to minimise the impact of Covid-19 on their work after the latest lockdown imposed further restrictions on access to labs. One year on from the first lab closures, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, is warning that tightened restrictions in response to new variants have further limited laboratory research time – and slowed the race to find new cancer treatments....

Porvair Sciences has launched new kits for rapid extraction of total RNA from a wide range of biological samples. These proprietary kits enable extraction of up to 1000 µg of application-ready pure RNA in as little as 10 minutes. Extraction and purification of  RNA is required for numerous downstream molecular biology applications such as RT-PCR, qPCR, Western blotting and RNA amplification. The global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a huge increase in the demand for testing and detection of viral nucleic acids...

Smiths Detection, a global leader in threat detection and security screening technologies, confirms its BioFlash® Biological Identifier is capable of detecting airborne COVID-19 following tests conducted by the University of Oregon, positioning the technology as an effective environmental monitoring tool for use in indoor public spaces. The University of Oregon tests were performed in quarantine and isolation spaces known to have individuals who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19)....

CloudLIMS, a leading provider of laboratory informatics, announces the release of a HIPAA-compliant, cloud-based, secure patient portal to enable clinical and COVID-19 diagnostic laboratories to offer direct-to-patient services for seamless communication. The patient portal is included in the latest release of CloudLIMS, a full-feature, out-of-the-box, COVID-19 LIMS...

Science communications company Cactus Communications has released its report on the largest and most diverse global mental health survey in the scientific research community. The survey gathered responses from over 13,000 participants in seven languages, with strong representation from the top-ten research-producing countries. Notably, 43 per cent of respondents to CACTUS’ survey said their organisation does not have effective policies for supporting a good-work life balance and this negatively effects their mental health...

Ziath has posted a new video that provides an easy-to-follow guide to assist scientists and technicians scanning and decoding sample tube racks direct from low temperature storage, especially when withdrawn from vapour phase liquid nitrogen tanks. The remove ice, blotting and scanning protocol is demonstrated to take less than 30 seconds per rack...

Avacta Group plc, the developer of innovative cancer therapies and diagnostics based on its proprietary Affimer® and pre|CISION™ platforms, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a global distribution agreement with ABCAM plc (AIM: ABC; NASDAQ: ABCM) to sell the Group’s recently developed SARS-CoV-2 research ELISA Affimer® reagents...

Mologic, a leading developer of lateral flow and rapid diagnostic technologies, has announced its rapid antigen self-test for COVID-19 has been selected by the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADxSM) initiative launched by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). The initiative aims to speed innovation in the development, commercialisation, and implementation of technologies for COVID-19 testing....

Intravacc, a global leader in translational research and development of viral and bacterial vaccines, has announced that it has obtained positive preclinical results for its SARS-CoV-2 Outer Membrane Vesicle (OMV) based recombinant Spike protein (rSp) candidate nose spray vaccine. For the preclinical study four groups of mice and four groups of hamsters received two intranasal immunizations on day one and day 21...