The Applied Biosystems Absolute Q SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Surveillance Kit* is designed to provide rapid and consistent absolute quantitation of relevant COVID-19 targets from wastewater samples using digital PCR (dPCR). With minimal hands-on time, the two-tube kit simplifies the dPCR workflow toward a 90-minute time result, without the need for specialized training. Wastewater surveillance has emerged…

Minimizing contact with objects has become an essential part of anti-pandemic efforts.  Hong Kong Productivity Council’s kNOw Touch contactless panel lessens the risk of coronavirus transmission in elevators by enabling touchless sensing in the elevator controls. This cost-efficient technology only requires a small twist without the need of vast mechanical alteration to perform. The product…

Vaccizone, a vaccine development company focusing on innovative antigen delivery technology, selected Exothera S.A. to fast-track process development of its SARS‑CoV‑2 vaccine for European clinical trials. Vaccizone has developed and patented a novel method for delivering antigens and bioactive compounds which can increase the stability and shelf life of complex biotherapeutics, like vaccines, monoclonal antibodies…

Researchers live in a world of variants — coronaviral variants are taking center stage in the media right now. But in 2022, researchers will also have to deal with the challenges of accelerating economic inflation rates, global warming, electrification of everything, fifth- and sixth-generation broadband uncertainties, declining animal and plant diversities, declining global population rates,…

Certara’s COVID-19 Vaccine Model allows researchers to study how a vaccine is handled by the human body in computer-generated, virtual populations. It uses biosimulation (computer-aided modeling and simulation integrated with pharmaceutical and biological science) to generate virtual populations with different ages, gender, weight, genetics, diet, illnesses and medications. It can then efficiently run virtual clinical…

To support active research and surveillance of viral pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, Thermo Fisher Scientific has launched two new reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP)-based solutions. While PCR remains the gold standard for diagnostic, lab-based testing, isothermal RT-LAMP nucleic-acid-based amplification provides a rapid and low-cost option for viral pathogen detection. “In the global fight against COVID-19…

The R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending December 24, 2021, closed at 5,651.82 for the 25 companies in the RDWI. The Index was up 2.42% (or 133.72 basis points) from the week ending December 17, 2021. The stock of 20 RDWI members gained value from 0.01% (Johnson & Johnson) to 3.66% (Alphabet/Google). The…

Contipharma, a pharmaceutical company specializing in the development and marketing of targeted medical solutions, is now making a saliva-based PCR test available across the entire continent of Africa. The test, which was developed by the University of Liège (ULiège) in Belgium and is CE marked, can detect all known variants of SARS-CoV-2, including Omicron. It…

PerkinElmer has announced that the performance of its SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR assays are not impacted by the emergence of Omicron (B.1.1.529), a variant of concern that was recently identified by the World Health Organization (WHO). There are more than 30 Omicron mutations reported in the S gene of SARS-CoV-2. PerkinElmer’s assays do not target the S…

Porex, a provider of custom-engineered porous polymer solutions, received a $16.2 million award from the Departments of Defense (DoD) and Health and Human Services (HHS) to increase production capacity of aerosol-barrier filters used in filtered pipettes for COVID-19 and other infectious disease testing. Porex is a subsidiary of Filtration Group. Across much of 2020, the…

Imec, a nanoelectronics and digital technology research and innovation hub, and miDiagnostics, a spin-off of imec in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University specialized in the development of point-of-care tests for a wide range of health conditions, announce that they have signed a non-exclusive licensing agreement for imec’s patented COVID-19 breathalyzer.  Aerosols and droplets from exhaled…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for PerkinElmer’s PKamp Respiratory SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Panel 1 assay. Qualified laboratories* can immediately begin using this single test for the simultaneous qualitative detection and differentiation of COVID-19, influenza A, influenza B and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) isolated from nasopharyngeal, anterior nasal and…

As global SARS-CoV-2 research efforts continue, labs are increasingly conducting scientific studies using banked saliva samples, taking advantage of a sample type which is easy to access and non-invasive. To this end, Thermo Fisher Scientific has launched the Thermo Scientific SpeciMAX Stabilized Saliva Collection Kit*, which is designed to safely collect saliva for research. The…

A University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) research team has identified a potential cause of long-lasting symptoms experienced by COVID-19 patients, often referred to as long-haulers. The findings were published in the journal, The Public Library of Science ONE (PLOS ONE). At the heart of the team’s findings is an antibody that shows up…

By Emma Ea Ambrose, Purdue University When the COVID-19 pandemic began and the technologies necessary to combat it came into focus, testing was immediately identified as being top on the list. Mohit Verma, assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering, had been working for years on developing a diagnostic tool to detect Bovine Respiratory Disease…

A complete workflow developed by Promega Corporation enables wastewater testing laboratories, including public health organizations, to quickly assess the health of entire communities from a single sample. The Maxwell RSC Enviro Total Nucleic Acid Kit and Wizard  Enviro Total Nucleic Acid Kit join a growing portfolio of products that support wastewater surveillance to monitor the…

PerkinElmer announces that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the PerkinElmer New Coronavirus Nucleic Acid Detection Kit for an additional indication that permits use of saliva as specimen type. The kit now has Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the qualitative detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2 in saliva specimens collected using the…

Mace, the global consultancy and construction company, together with design partners WSP and HOK and technical partners Hoare Lea and GMP, supported the delivery of one of the world’s largest, most innovative diagnostic facilities — the Rosalind Franklin Laboratory — as part of the UK government’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mace-led multidisciplinary…

by Oak Ridge National Laboratory An ORNL-led team comprising researchers from multiple DOE national laboratories is using artificial intelligence and computational screening techniques – in combination with experimental validation – to identify and design five promising drug therapy approaches to target the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Michelle Lehman/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy. In early 2020, when the…

By Aliyah Kovner, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Vaccines are turning the tide in the pandemic, but the risk of infection is still present in some situations. If you want to visit a friend, get on a plane, or go see a movie, there is no highly accurate, instant test that can tell you right then and…

Bio-Rad Laboratories, life science researcher and manufacturer of clinical diagnostic products, announces the launch of the Reliance SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Kit (IVD) for European markets after having met the CE-IVD mark requirements. The Reliance SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Kit is a real-time reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR) test that can detect nucleic acid in SARS-CoV-2, the virus associated with COVID-19…

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors recognized that patients who developed a “cytokine storm” –– a surge of pro-inflammatory immune proteins –– were often the sickest and at highest risk of dying. But a cytokine storm can also occur in other illnesses, such as influenza. Today, scientists report preliminary results on a sweat sensor that…

By David Chandler, MIT News Office Two MIT professors have proposed a new approach to estimating the risks of exposure to Covid-19 under different indoor settings. The guideline they developed suggests a limit for exposure time, based on the number of people, the size of the space, the kinds of activity, whether masks are worn,…

AnteoTech has announced that its EuGeni Reader and accompanying COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test (ART) have received the CE mark as the company looks to progress with European distribution. The digital multi-test EuGeni Reader eliminates the human error associated with current lateral flow test interpretation and can support high-sensitivity quantitative readouts for time-critical disease and clinical…

Mologic’s rapid antigen self-test for COVID-19 has been selected by the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative launched by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). The initiative aims to speed innovation in the development, commercialization and implementation of technologies for COVID-19 testing. Mologic’s easy-to-use, nasal swab test is intended for use by non-health professionals…