Merck, a leading science and technology company, has announced a collaboration with Mammoth Biosciences Inc., of South San Francisco, California, USA, for the development, scale-up and commercial production of Mammoth’s CRISPR-based SARS CoV-2 diagnostic test. Mammoth’s high-throughput systems will be compatible with both nasal swab and saliva samples and are targeting approximately 1,500 tests per 8-hour shift with minimal user interaction....
Cancer researchers fear advances for patients could be delayed by almost a year and a half because of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, a new survey reveals. Scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, told the survey that their own research advances would be pushed back by an average of six months by the initial lockdown, subsequent restrictions on laboratory capacity and the closure of national scientific facilities....
Tecan has launched the Crescendo cDNA™ Synthesis for qPCR system to provide increased sensitivity for low input applications.Developed specifically to meet the needs of researchers working with scarce, precious or degraded RNA samples – such as nasal swabs –it uses Tecan’s proprietary Single Primer Isothermal Amplification (SPIA®) technology to generate large quantities of cDNA from as little as 500 pg of total RNA....
Using HS antibodies from AMSBIO, researchers have demonstrated that Heparanase enzyme contributes to the pathogenesis of COVID-19, with both Heparanase activity and HS levels being elevated in plasma of Covid-19 patients. In addition, recent published data has shown that Heparanase activity is further elevated in ICU patients on ventilators compared to less serious cases....
Dr Sally Price, Head of Cell and Translational Science at Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC) has been named in BioBeat’20 Movers & Shakers in BioBusiness 2020. Dr Price was instrumental in setting up the Alderley Park Lighthouse Lab, which forms part of the largest diagnostic testing facility in British history, to help in the fight against Coronavirus.
Avacta Group plc, the developer of innovative cancer therapies and diagnostics based on its proprietary Affimer® and pre|CISION™ platforms, is pleased to announce significant progress in the development of a highly scalable manufacturing process for a lateral flow SARS-CoV-2 antigen test being carried out with BBI Solutions, and that the lateral flow test has very good analytical sensitivity with laboratory samples...
Telstar has reinforced the production of Boreas, a -86º ultra-low-temperature freezers, to meet the growing demand in the short term generated by the industrial production of new vaccines to treat Covid-19. The company will double the manufacturing of the latest generation of ultra-low-temperature freezers that complies with all the stringent requirements of storage needed to protect the integrity of vaccines...
ACHEMA 2021 will be postponed to April 4-8, 2022. This decision was taken after intensive discussions with the community and in the ACHEMA Committee in view of the continuing uncertainty caused by the Corona pandemic. From June 15-16, 2021, ACHEMA Pulse will offer the worldwide ACHEMA community the opportunity to learn about the latest trends...
Pfizer and BioNTech SE have announced that they have reached an agreement with the European Commission to supply 200 million doses of their investigational BNT162b2 mRNA-based vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2 to European Union (EU) Member States, with an option for the European Commission to request an additional 100 million doses. Deliveries are anticipated to start by the end of 2020, subject to clinical success and regulatory authorization....
Isohelix, a specialist provider of DNA and RNA sampling and purification products, announced that its state-of-the-art GeneFiX™ Saliva RNA Collection Device is the technology of choice for COVID-19 testing by Precision Genetics, a leading healthcare technology company and high capacity molecular testing laboratory. The high-performance, easy-to-use device marks the latest addition to Precision Genetics’ extensive portfolio of validated COVID-19 testing options...
The new IgM antibody test demonstrated 99.9% specificity with 1,400 negative samples and 100% sensitivity at >18 days post symptom onset and post positive PCR. Beckman Coulter’s IgM assay is part of a full suite of testing solutions the company is developing to inform clinical and public health decision making during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beckman Coulter is also developing a SARS-CoV-2 antigen test and quantitative IgG assay....
PerkinElmer, Inc., a global leader committed to innovating for a healthier world, announced today that EUROIMMUN, a PerkinElmer company, has launched the Anti-SARS-CoV-2 about ELISA (IgG) to quantify IgG antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 S1 antigen. The assay is available for countries accepting the CE mark, and the Company plans to file a request for this product with the U.S. Food and Drug...
AFYS3G launches a new recapping solution to accelerate sample storage workflows: the Recapper for Screw Cap Tubes Sigma96. 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...
Beckman Coulter, a clinical diagnostics leader, has announced its Access SARS-CoV-2 Immunoglobulin M (IgM) assay has received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The assay detects antibodies that recognize the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein which the SARS-CoV-2 virus uses to enter the human host cells. The assay, which demonstrates 99.9% specificity and 98.3% sensitivity, is part of a suite of diagnostic solutions....
Scope Fluidics – a biotechnological company listed on NewConnect, developer of innovative medical diagnostics projects – has commenced prevalidation tests of the PCR|ONE SARS-CoV-2 panel on clinical samples. The tests will be conducted in a hospital laboratory, on swabs collected directly from patients. The aim of the initiated tests is to check the effectiveness of the developed panel, which has so far been validated in the course of internal tests....
A BREAKTHROUGH test for COVID-19 which works in just 25 minutes, with high accuracy and requiring only routine laboratory equipment, is currently in the final stages of clinical validation by British biotech firm MicrosensDx. The test, called MicrosensDx COVID-19, has been used successfully in large scale testing programs with BAE Systems in Cumbria over the last few months, where it has been deployed to test more than 8,000 people a week....
If you give money to medical or research charities, you probably don’t expect 20 per cent of your donation to be clawed back in VAT, however, because of confused guidance on applying zero-rate VAT relief, that’s exactly what often happens. Furthermore, now the temporary relief afforded by the Government’s decision to make all PPE VAT-free came to an end on 31st October, VAT will now be charged on PPE sold for charitably funded medical and veterinary use....
PerkinElmer, Inc. has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to allow sample pooling with PerkinElmer® New Coronavirus Nucleic Acid Detection Kit to increase the number of individuals who can be tested without increasing resources. This validation of batch testing using the industry’s most sensitive assay to date according to the 
Porvair Sciences has introduced a new 2.2ml 96 deep well plate specifically designed to be fully compatible with the Thermo Scientific™ KingFisher™ range of nucleic acid purification systems. For many labs, up-front sample preparation and handling represents a major bottleneck in their research workflow, as it is largely done manually. Widely used for the nucleic acid purification step in SARS-CoV-2 testing, the KingFisher™ Flex instrument can process 96 samples per run when paired with 96 deep-well microplates....
Teknova, a leading manufacturer of cell culture media and supplements, protein purification buffers, and molecular biology reagents, has completed the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notification process for its CDC formulation Viral Transport Medium (VTM). Therefore, Teknova Viral Transport Medium is in compliance with the FDA’s COVID-19 Transport Media Policy, July 2020 guidelines. Teknova is now offering the validated Teknova Viral Transport Medium for commercial distribution.
UNION therapeutics A/S (UNION) announces expansion of the clinical pipeline with the addition of UNI91103 (intranasal niclosamide) to prevent COVID-19 and reduce the severity of the diseases among those already infected. Several high-risk patient groups do not respond well to vaccination suggesting a persistent need for alternative prophylactic measures. In response, UNION has expanded its clinical program for COVID-19 with a niclosamide based nasal spray...
EKF Diagnostics, the global in vitro diagnostics company, announces that it has launched a PrimeStore® MTM sample collection kit. This new kit enables convenient and safe collection, transportation and handling of pathogenic samples, including COVID-19 and influenza. Two kit configurations are now available: a postal sample kit ideal for home use and a multi-pack of sample kits suitable for on-site mass sampling....