The increasing diversity of SARS-CoV-2 variants and the potential higher infectivity of some new viral strains, underline the need to identify, trace and track mutations across the complete viral genome. Currently, strains of concern include the B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in the United Kingdom, and the B.1.351 variant, first identified in South Africa.
Eurofins is pleased to announce the following initiatives to support health authorities’ variant detection and monitoring programmes:
As previously outlined, the Eurofins-Viracor SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR diagnostic test, has been ranked as the most sensitive out of more than 115 kits evaluated by the FDA SARS-CoV-2 Reference Panel (https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/sars-cov-2-reference-panel-comparative-data#table2c). Furthermore, this RT-PCR test maintains very high sensitivity in the detection of variants such as B.1.1.7 and B.1.351.
Through Eurofins’ current COVID-19 testing and clinical diagnostics activities globally and its partnerships with leading pharmaceutical and vaccine companies, the Group is able to closely monitor the identification of new variants of SARS-CoV-2 and intends to add new detection capabilities to NovaType as additional variants appear. Eurofins’ ability to produce and distribute primers and probes, and commercial PCR kits, additionally benefits the speed of development of new assays.