In an international collaboration, researchers have characterized the first significant SARS-CoV-2 mutation,N439K, occurring within the virus’s spike protein receptor binding motif (RBM). The N439K mutation, which was originally discovered in the first half of 2020 and is considered to be one of the first important SARS-CoV-2 RBM mutations, because it occurred within the receptor binding domain (RBD) in the virus’s Spike protein that interacts with the human ACE2 receptor...
On Tuesday January 12th, in Nature Communications, strong preclinical results for a new COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the team of Prof. Salanti from University of Copenhagen, ExpreS2ion Biotech, its joint venture partner AdaptVac and the PREVENT-nCoV consortium, was published. Based on these results, a clinical trial application (CTA) for a clinical Phase I/II study for the COVID-19 vaccine has been submitted....
Compact Airo Sensors from ViGIE were chosen by Pfizer to monitor the company’s facilities during Covid vaccine production, and to monitor temperatures for the critical transportation of the vaccine between Pfizer factories, distribution centres and hubs worldwide. It is widely known that the new vaccine, first approved for widespread use in the UK, must be kept at a very low temperature of minus 70°C during storage and shipping....
Beckman Coulter, a clinical diagnostics leader, today launched its Access SARS-CoV-2 IgG II assay in countries accepting the CE Mark. The new Access SARS-CoV-2 IgG II assay quantitatively measures a patient’s level of antibodies in response to a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. The ability to establish a quantitative baseline to evaluate an individual’s immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus allows clinicians to assess relative changes of an individual’s immune response to the virus over time based on a numerical value....
The rapid spread of the newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 virus variant B.1.1.7 in Great Britain and other countries shows changes in the genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus can lead to new biological properties. Most of the approximately 12,000 mutations in the genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that have been identified since February 2020 so far did not change the biological properties of the virus. However, some of the almost 4,000 mutations that have been identified in the spike protein....
The 2021 Gilson Product Guide is now available to download. This year, it’s packed with our liquid handling, extraction and purification instruments, enabling verifiable science and making lab life easier for researchers. With the current pandemic, this new guide also features solutions dedicated to COVID-19 research. We’ve consolidated our tools, technology, services, and resources to help scientists as they ramp up testing capabilities or study the virus...
Hamilton Storage and Rhinostics, an early-stage Harvard University spin-out company, are pleased to announce the first step in a collaboration to improve decapping and accessioning of patient samples. These common bottlenecks occur during clinical sample processing of assays to detect antibodies and antigens in relation to the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, as well as many other pathogens....
New England Biolabs® (NEB®) has announced the launch of its Luna®SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR Multiplex Assay Kit for real-time detection of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid. This research use only (RUO) kit offers multiplex testing of up to 94 samples in a single 96-well plate, with the additional capacity for supporting sample pooling and high throughput applications using 384-well plate test formats....
Kromek a worldwide supplier of detection technology focusing on the medical, security screening and nuclear markets, announces that it has commenced a £1.25m programme funded by Innovate UK to customise its biological threat-detection solution for the automated detection of all airborne viruses, including COVID-19, to support end-use cases....
Making people stand in front of a scanner to have their body temperature read can result in a large number of false negatives, allowing people with Covid-19 to pass through airports and hospitals undetected. Leading experts in physiology have suggested instead that taking temperature readings of a person’s fingertip and eye would give a significantly better and more reliable reading and help identify those with fever....
PerkinElmer, Inc. has announced that its PerkinElmer® New Coronavirus Nucleic Acid Detection Kit received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test individuals without symptoms or other reasons to suspect COVID-19 infection. According to a new model from The Journal of the American Medical Association’s Open Network developed by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, close to 60% of total COVID-19 transmissions....
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....
In an international collaboration, researchers have characterized the first significant SARS-CoV-2 mutation,N439K, occurring within the virus’s spike protein receptor binding motif (RBM). The N439K mutation, which was originally discovered in the first half of 2020 and is considered to be one of the first important SARS-CoV-2 RBM mutations, because it occurred within the receptor binding domain (RBD) in the virus’s Spike protein that interacts with the human ACE2 receptor...
On Tuesday January 12th, in Nature Communications, strong preclinical results for a new COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the team of Prof. Salanti from University of Copenhagen, ExpreS2ion Biotech, its joint venture partner AdaptVac and the PREVENT-nCoV consortium, was published. Based on these results, a clinical trial application (CTA) for a clinical Phase I/II study for the COVID-19 vaccine has been submitted....
Compact Airo Sensors from ViGIE were chosen by Pfizer to monitor the company’s facilities during Covid vaccine production, and to monitor temperatures for the critical transportation of the vaccine between Pfizer factories, distribution centres and hubs worldwide. It is widely known that the new vaccine, first approved for widespread use in the UK, must be kept at a very low temperature of minus 70°C during storage and shipping....
Beckman Coulter, a clinical diagnostics leader, today launched its Access SARS-CoV-2 IgG II assay in countries accepting the CE Mark. The new Access SARS-CoV-2 IgG II assay quantitatively measures a patient’s level of antibodies in response to a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. The ability to establish a quantitative baseline to evaluate an individual’s immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus allows clinicians to assess relative changes of an individual’s immune response to the virus over time based on a numerical value....
The rapid spread of the newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 virus variant B.1.1.7 in Great Britain and other countries shows changes in the genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus can lead to new biological properties. Most of the approximately 12,000 mutations in the genome of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that have been identified since February 2020 so far did not change the biological properties of the virus. However, some of the almost 4,000 mutations that have been identified in the spike protein....
The 2021 Gilson Product Guide is now available to download. This year, it’s packed with our liquid handling, extraction and purification instruments, enabling verifiable science and making lab life easier for researchers. With the current pandemic, this new guide also features solutions dedicated to COVID-19 research. We’ve consolidated our tools, technology, services, and resources to help scientists as they ramp up testing capabilities or study the virus...
Hamilton Storage and Rhinostics, an early-stage Harvard University spin-out company, are pleased to announce the first step in a collaboration to improve decapping and accessioning of patient samples. These common bottlenecks occur during clinical sample processing of assays to detect antibodies and antigens in relation to the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, as well as many other pathogens....
New England Biolabs® (NEB®) has announced the launch of its Luna®SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR Multiplex Assay Kit for real-time detection of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid. This research use only (RUO) kit offers multiplex testing of up to 94 samples in a single 96-well plate, with the additional capacity for supporting sample pooling and high throughput applications using 384-well plate test formats....
Kromek a worldwide supplier of detection technology focusing on the medical, security screening and nuclear markets, announces that it has commenced a £1.25m programme funded by Innovate UK to customise its biological threat-detection solution for the automated detection of all airborne viruses, including COVID-19, to support end-use cases....
Making people stand in front of a scanner to have their body temperature read can result in a large number of false negatives, allowing people with Covid-19 to pass through airports and hospitals undetected. Leading experts in physiology have suggested instead that taking temperature readings of a person’s fingertip and eye would give a significantly better and more reliable reading and help identify those with fever....
PerkinElmer, Inc. has announced that its PerkinElmer® New Coronavirus Nucleic Acid Detection Kit received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test individuals without symptoms or other reasons to suspect COVID-19 infection. According to a new model from The Journal of the American Medical Association’s Open Network developed by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, close to 60% of total COVID-19 transmissions....
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.
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....