Illumina Inc. has announced that its world-class sequencing and bioinformatics solutions are being used by HostSeq, part of the Canadian COVID-19 Genomics Network (CanCOGeN), to identify biomarkers that can help predict potential risk of serious disease and support the development of novel therapeutics to combat COVID-19. By sequencing the genomes of up to 10,000 patients diagnosed or affected by COVID-19 throughout Canada...
40 senior people working across UK labs were surveyed by Automata on their current challenges and views. The poll identified that automation is seen as a solution to relieve existing pressures, improve day-to-day capacity and turnaround time, reduce human error and ultimately enhance patient outcomes. Respondents worked across pathology (60%) and diagnostics (38%), with the vast majority (93%) of those questioned undertaking NHS work...
Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., a global leader of life science research and clinical diagnostic products, announce the launch of the Bio-Plex™ Pro Human SARS-CoV-2 Variant Neutralization Antibody Assays, for research use only (RUO). The assays allow scientists to measure neutralizing antibodies quickly and efficiently against wild-type and significant variants of SARS-CoV-2 virus...
Avacta Group plc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative cancer therapies and powerful diagnostics based on its proprietary Affimer® and pre|CISION™ platforms, announces that the AffiDX® SARS-CoV-2 antigen lateral flow test has received a CE mark for use as a consumer self-test in the UK and EU. Avacta partnered with Medusa Healthcare (“Medusa”) to obtain regulatory approval for the AffiDX® antigen test for consumer self-testing and has now received the CE mark from a European Notified Body...
PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE: PKI), a global leader committed to innovating for a healthier world, has announced the research use only (RUO) launch of the NEXTFLEX® Variant-Seq™ SARS-CoV-2 Kit v2 to accelerate the detection of SARS-CoV-2 variants. This complete next generation sequencing (NGS) solution will allow laboratories to increase sequencing throughput and make reliable variant identifications....
FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific, Inc., a world leader in the development and manufacture of serum-free and chemically defined cell culture media for bioproduction and cell therapy manufacturing, has announced the establishment of an Innovation and Collaboration Center in Suzhou New District, China. Through this new center, experts will collaborate with customers to design upstream cell culture processes that meet their biomanufacturing needs...
INTEGRA’s automated pipetting solutions are helping scientists meet the challenge of efficiently pooling potentially infectious samples prior to testing for disease surveillance and diagnostics, increasing throughput and accelerating time to results. Pooling of patient samples is commonly used in immunoassays and molecular diagnostics to increase testing capacity while reducing reagent costs for the analysis of SARS-CoV-2 and other infectious agents....
Moderna, Inc., a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines, has announced updates to its strategy to address SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, given the emergence of the B.1.1.529 (Omicron) variant. The recently described Omicron variant includes mutations seen in the Delta variant that are believed to increase transmissibility and mutations seen in the Beta and Delta variants that are believed to promote immune escape....
A recent article published in mBio (American Society for Microbiology) illustrates how the cVLP vaccine developed by AdaptVac and University of Copenhagen has successfully been produced using a robust production platform providing scalability, low cost, and safety. Attana technology has been applied by the team of Prof Ali Salanti at the University of Copenhagen in their development of a COVID-19 vaccine based on the patented Capsid Virus-Like Particle (cVLP) technology...
INTEGRA Biosciences’ selection of liquid handling tools provides scientists worldwide with the solutions they need for their PCR workflows. The company offers an array of options for manual, electronic or fully automated pipetting, and volumes ranging between 0.2 µl and 5000 µl. Combined with INTEGRA’s unique GripTip system, which ensures pipette tips never leak or fall off, the company is redefining how laboratories approach tedious PCR workflows...
EKF Diagnostics, the global in vitro diagnostics company, announces that it has acquired Advanced Diagnostic Laboratory LLC (“ADL Health”), a Texas based PCR-focused testing laboratory certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (“CLIA”) for high-complexity molecular diagnostics testing. ADL Health’s CLIA-certified laboratory covers the fields of clinical, forensic and microbiological tests...
CN Bio, a leading Organ-on-a-chip Company (OOC) that designs and manufactures single- and multi-organ microphysiological systems (MPS), has announced a research collaboration with the Infection Innovation Consortium (iiCON), a global collaborative infectious disease R&D programme, to validate the next generation of COVID-19 research tools. iiCON’s £174 million programme brings together industry, academia, and clinicians to accelerate the discovery, development...
Brooks Automation, Inc. has announced that its newly branded Azenta Life Sciences business has been contracted by QTC Management, Inc., a Leidos company, to provide the storage and distribution of vaccines to the U.S. Department of Defense. Earlier this year, QTC was awarded the prestigious Reserve Health Readiness Program III contract, under which they will provide commercial health services to all U.S. military reserve forces. Azenta will work with QTC and the Defense Health Agency to ensure the safe, reliable supply of vaccines...
Ziath reports how it has worked with the Hubrecht Institute (Utrecht, Netherlands) which has developed a pioneering automated test robot, called STRIP-1, which can process up to 20,000 samples for SARS-CoV-2 testing in just 24 hours. This makes it much faster than all other automated SARS-CoV-2 testing systems used to date. In addition, all samples can be tracked precisely because they have a 2D-barcode on the bottom of each tube that is scanned multiple times throughout the process....
Represents commitment to global efforts against COVID-19 with optimized mRNA production using proprietary chromatographic columns and process. BioNet, a leading biotech company manufacturing genetically engineered vaccines, and BIA Separations, now part of Sartorius, a leading biochromatography development and manufacturing company, today announced the successful development of an optimized mRNA manufacturing process....
Biotecnica, a leading manufacturer of peptones has launched a new line of low endotoxin peptones that do not require ultrafiltration. EndoLow® Peptones are the next generation of peptones developed to meet the needs of the biopharmaceutical industry for the production of medications, vaccines, and diagnostic products. They provide a rich source of nitrogen, vitamins, and carbohydrates and enhance cell growth in culture media...
Charge detection mass spectrometry adds new value to traditional mass spectrometry in detecting larger molecules such as coronaviruses. TrueMass presents the world’s first commercially designed charge detection mass spectrometer (CDMS) at this year’s ASMS in Philadelphia, PA. Offering the ability to enhance mass spectrometry, widely used in small molecule detection, the TrueMass technology enables detailed analysis of macromolecules such as viruses....
SCHOTT MINIFAB, a subsidiary of SCHOTT that develops and manufactures microfluidic devices for point-of-care and life sciences consumables, has had a long-standing close customer relationship with Applied Microarrays Inc. (AMI). Together, they develop biotech substrates for diagnostics applications. The expertise of AMI will further strengthen SCHOTT’s ability to offer a single-source contract manufacturing solution...