Coronavirus (COVID-19) News

ZTA Biotech, a Budapest-based biotech startup has announced the breakthrough development of a COVID-19 antibody (IgG) test using the ELISA protocol. This new detection method represents a great step forward in determining if patients have had COVID-19 and if they might still have immunity to the disease. Early results have proven 100% in specificity after testing 280 samples, and 100% sensitivity by testing 260 samples of recovered and symptomatic patients....

Excalibur Healthcare Services Ltd, a leading UK-based provider of high-quality medical products and services, has announced that its Rapid SARS COV-2 Antigen Screening test is the first ever lateral flow antigen test to receive regulatory approval for use in mass screening for COVID-19 in asymptomatic, pre-symptomatic and symptomatic populations....

Teknova, a leading manufacturer of cell culture media and supplements, purification buffers, and molecular biology reagents, has completed the process of FDA notification for its Active Viral Transport Medium (ATM). ATM is a room temperature-stable version of Teknova’s CDC formulation Viral Transport Medium (VTM)and is manufactured under GMP conditions in compliance with ISO 13485 standards....

AMSBIO has introduced a series of kit products based upon high-quality SARS-CoV-2 antigen proteins to improve the efficiency of anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs and vaccines development. These new kit products include SARS-CoV-2 inhibitor screening kits, antibody titer serologic assay kits, antigen detection kit and antigen pre-coated plates....

In line with the need for pharmaceutical research, cell and gene therapy, vaccine production and biobanking laboratories for dependable sample protection, the new series of controlled-rate freezers from Thermo Fisher Scientific provides precise, repeatable freezing capabilities, while enhancing data traceability to support GMP and 21 CFR part 11 requirements.

Scientists sequencing virus samples from the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Scotland (and through the first wave) have found evidence of community transmission, driven by multiple introductions through international travel, as early as February 2020. In new research, led by the University of Glasgow and published in Nature Microbiology, researchers have been able to confirm that SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, had multiple introductions to Scotland in early 2020, mainly from European countries such as Italy and Spain....

Autogen, Inc. is pleased to announce the introduction of their newest fully automated workflow, the NeXTRACT 48.  The NeXTRACT 48 is designed for the rapid extraction of viral DNA and/or RNA from a variety of samples including VTM, UVT, and sputum.  This workflow processes 48 samples in 20 minutes and can easily process 800 samples or more per day, providing quick, consistent, and reproducible results....

Twist Bioscience Corporation a company enabling customers to succeed through its offering of high-quality synthetic DNA using its silicon platform, has announced plans to offer a new synthetic RNA control that includes the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in the United Kingdom and South Africa. This new variant strain of SARS-CoV-2 contains multiple spike protein mutations as well as mutations in other areas of the viral genome....

Panthera’s clinical trial sites in Preston, North Manchester and North London began dosing volunteers in the Phase III PROVENT trial which will evaluate AstraZeneca’s long-acting antibody combination, AZD7442, for the potential prevention of COVID-19. The double-blind, placebo-controlled trial will include adult volunteers who have no history of COVID-19 and have an increased risk of infection...

Lonza and the Vaccines Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC), a not-for-profit organization established to provide the UK’s first strategic vaccine development and advanced manufacturing capability, announced a project to implement the MODA-EM™ Solution to automate quality control (QC) in the new facility. VMIC plans to implement the MODA-EM™ Solution as part of its strategy to develop a state-of-the-art manufacturing center due to open in 2021 – fast-tracked to open a year ahead of schedule...

Abbott has received CE Mark for its new quantitative SARS-CoV-2 IgG (Immunoglobulin G) lab-based serology test. IgG antibody testing that gives a quantitative result (measuring the amount of antibodies) provides important insights to people as they recover from COVID-19 and help evaluate a person's immune response to a vaccine. Countries around the world are preparing for the authorisation and the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines....

Once an effective COVID19 vaccine is available in the required quantities and is to be delivered to the vaccination centres, a specific logistical task also needs to be addressed: The vaccine must be transported at a temperature of at least -70oC to -80oC and stored on site at the vaccination centre. L&R Kältetechnik has developed a safe, flexible and economical concept for this demanding type of deep-freeze storage: a deep-freeze storage system that is installed in an industrial container...

EKF Diagnostics, the global in vitro diagnostics company, announces that it has introduced one of the first tests to precisely measure levels of COVID-19 neutralizing antibodies in individuals. Unlike other antibody tests, the Kantaro COVID-SeroKlir SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody test kit determines both the presence and specific quantities of human IgG antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This enables a broad range of COVID-19 applications...

Porvair Sciences will exhibit its latest specialist microplates and microplate instrumentation at the forthcoming SLAS 2021 Digital International Conference and Exhibition (January 25-27th 2021). Microplates product manager - Krzysztof Kielmann commented "A particular focus of our virtual exhibit will be specialist microplates and instrumentation for labs supporting the global COVID-19 testing effort....

Merck, a leading science and technology company, has announced the broadening of its manufacturing footprint with a combined €40 million investment at its production facilities in Danvers, Massachusetts, and Jaffrey, New Hampshire, USA. These sites supply critical products to customers developing lifesaving therapies, including Covid-19 vaccines, as well as provide products and services for biopharmaceutical manufacturing...

HALIX B.V. signed an agreement with AstraZeneca AB for large-scale commercial drug substance manufacture of AZD1222, the adenovirus vector-based COVID-19 vaccine. Under the agreement, HALIX will provide commercial manufacturing of drug substance at its state-of-the-art cGMP facility at the Leiden Bio Science Park in the Netherlands. To meet the increased demand, HALIX expands with two additional viral vector production lines....

Scientific Laboratory Supplies (SLS) and leading international life sciences company Eppendorf have been chosen to provide ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers for the country’s supply of COVID-19 vaccines. SLS – the UK's largest independent supplier of chemicals, laboratory equipment and consumables – was awarded a contract by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to equip two central storage sites and 54 regional hubs with the vital laboratory equipment required for safe and secure storage of the newly developed vaccine....

LGC’s high-throughput (HTP) RT-PCR testing system for SARS-CoV-2 has been submitted to the FDA for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA). Testing labs can now leverage LGC’s unrivalled expertise in automated sample preparation and high-throughput RT-PCR workflows in a ready-to-deploy solution. As the need for SARS-CoV-2 testing for both diagnostic and screening applications continues to grow, many organisations are looking to expand or create testing capacity...

Tecan has launched the Revelo RNA-Seq kit, offering end-to-end processing of human samples to enable complete viral RNA-Seq library preparation – including library quantification – in a single day. This kit has been developed specifically to address the pathogen detection and characterization challenges currently faced by laboratories around the world, and is ideally suited to NGS library preparation from low input, patient-derived sample types, such as nasal swabs...