Coronavirus (COVID-19) News

Cormeum Lab Services, a cutting-edge clinical testing laboratory in Louisiana, is using a range of pipetting solutions from INTEGRA Biosciences to streamline its infectious disease testing workflows. The laboratory acquired additional liquid handling instruments to cope with ever growing demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, and these tools are now supporting expansion of its testing capabilities...

Axis Healthcare, a family-run care facility in Oklahoma, has introduced VOYAGER adjustable tip spacing pipettes from INTEGRA Biosciences into its PCR laboratory workflows. These multichannel pipettes offer the laboratory a straightforward and easy-to-use liquid handling solution to provide accurate and high throughput testing as part of a holistic strategy to support patients in overcoming opioid addiction...

Merck, has awarded Khalid Salaita, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A., with the Future Insight Prize 2023 worth € 500,000 for research on a pandemic early alert system. Salaita’s group is developing a novel platform technology for automated surveillance and tracing of airborne pathogens in real time...

The Center for Emerging Viral Threats (CEVT) in Louisiana, USA, is using INTEGRA Biosciences’ liquid handling solutions for COVID-19 testing and viral genomics studies. These products have streamlined the center’s sample transfer protocols, leading to shorter turnaround times and supporting vital research into the prevention and control of viral respiratory diseases. The CEVT was established in March 2020 to address the urgent testing needs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic...

Synexa Life Sciences, a specialist biomarker and bioanalysis service provider, announces its membership in the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) Central Lab Network (CLN). This strategic partnership represents a significant milestone in Synexa's commitment to global health security and its dedication to fostering collaboration and innovation in epidemic preparedness and response...

Illumina Inc., a global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, today recognized the progress and impact of genomic technologies on pathogen preparedness and response. Following the boost in sequencing infrastructure and capabilities driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, today genomic technologies are enabling public health agencies and health care systems to better prepare for, and respond to, pathogenic threats...

LynxDx, a Michigan diagnostics laboratory specializing in prostate cancer screening and risk prediction, acquired liquid handling solutions from INTEGRA Biosciences to streamline its sample preparation for high throughput COVID-19 testing. The lab is now in the process of moving these products over to prostate cancer screening, where they are helping to improve result accuracy and turnaround times and, ultimately, support timely diagnosis and treatment...

Many laboratories purchased pipetting solutions from INTEGRA Biosciences during the COVID-19 pandemic, to help them cope with the high numbers of samples they were receiving every day for PCR testing. Now the pandemic has been brought somewhat under control, labs are once again able to concentrate their efforts on other vital work, but what has become of those pipetting platforms and devices? A recent survey conducted by INTEGRA provides insights into how these systems are finding new uses...

Breakthrough in diagnostics testing enables ‘facial recognition for germs’. Nicolas Shiaelis and Dr Nicole Robb, Oxford University scientists and co-founders of health tech company Pictura Bio, have developed a world-first diagnostic, test powered by artificial intelligence, that can identify known respiratory viruses such as influenza and COVID-19 within five minutes from just one nasal or throat swab...

Automata, a leading automation company powering life sciences labs, has announced it is partnering with the Advanced Sequencing Facility (ASF) at The Francis Crick Institute, a world-leading laboratory at the forefront of genomics, to unlock the power of open, integrated automation for genomics sample preparation. Integrated automation will support the Crick’s cutting-edge advanced genomics laboratory with greater walkaway time, R&D flexibility and data quality than ever before...

BioGrad is to open the UK's second largest biobank facility in Liverpool, as part of a £7.6m investment into a new headquarters at Wavertree Technology Park. In collaboration with the University of Leicester, BioGrad biobank has already welcomed up to 261,000 samples from the largest long-Covid study in the UK. Further partnerships with Liverpool Women’s Hospital and three private research companies will see BioGrad bank over one million human cell samples banked in its first year...

The Native Antigen Company (part of LGC Clinical Diagnostics), one of the world’s leading suppliers of reagents that enables research into vaccines and diagnostics for emerging and endemic infectious diseases, thas announced the commercial launch of its latest SARS-CoV-2 antigens for the newly designated Omicron BA.5 variant. The Company’s new range of RBD (receptor binding domain) antigens will support scientists in the research and development of in vitro diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for the current variant of concern.

Researchers at the Australian National Phenome Centre (ANPC) at Murdoch University have successfully detected and quantified newly discovered biomarkers of SARS-CoV-2 acute infections and of ‘Long COVID’. They used a benchtop Fourier Transform-nuclear magnetic resonance (FT-NMR) spectrometer with a permanent magnet, thereby lowering the barrier to clinical translation of this epidemiological and diagnostic research technology...

The COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the dangers of misinformation in the science industry. This phenomenon has been amplified with the popularity of forums and platforms that act as news distribution networks without a filter or editorial oversight. Here Aleiya Lonsdale, Head of Event at the largest laboratory event in the UK, Lab Innovations 2022,  discusses how the lab community has tried to hold back against the tide of scientific misinformation.

Merck, a leading science and technology company, strengthens its manufacturing capabilities for single-use assemblies, a key technology for the production of Covid-19 vaccines and other lifesaving therapies, by investing more than € 130 million in Molsheim, France. The investment is the largest ever in the 50-year history of the site and will create more than 800 jobs by the end of 2028...

Molnupiravir (Lagevrio®) is an antiviral medication to treat mild to medium COVID-19 infection. Molnupiravir is actually a prodrug of the active substrate N4-hydroxycytidine (NHC), a synthetic ribonucleoside analogue. The treatment leads to the introduction of copying errors during viral RNA replication and by this inhibits the viral reproduction. This new Application Note demonstrates how molnupiravir and its active agent β-d-N4-hydroxycytidine can be separated by using a YMC-Triart C18 UHPLC column...

Benchling, the R&D Cloud powering the biotechnology industry, today launched the industry’s first full set of capabilities for designing, modelling, and studying both natural and chemically modified RNA in a single solution. As the biopharmaceutical industry increases its focus on developing RNA therapeutics, Benchling’s new RNA solution is the first purpose-built offering on the market to help R&D organizations accelerate the delivery of drug candidates...

Scientists at the UK’s National Measurement Laboratory (NML) at LGC have published a paper, “Monkeypox: another test for PCR”, focusing on how to ensure the PCR diagnosis tests being deployed for monkeypox will be most accurate and that lessons learned on PCR testing from the COVID-19 pandemic are applied to the current epidemic. Dr Jim Huggett, Science Fellow at the NML, said, “Like the early stages of COVID-19, PCR is the only test that can be rapidly deployed to confirm Monkeypox cases....

Lentiviral vectors are a valuable tool for delivering target genes into most types of dividing and non-dividing mammalian cells in vitro and in vivo. Typically, production of custom lentiviral vectors is a laborious and challenging process, especially when high-titer lentiviral vectors are required. The custom lentiviral vector production service from AMSBO offers researchers a proven partner to avoid this bottleneck and speed up your research...