DUBLIN, Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Eurofins is making
new assays for the identification of B.1.1.7 (UK) and B.1.351
(South Africa)/B.1.1.248
(Brazil) variants with a one hour
run time available for free to public health institutions who do
not have capabilities to rapidly identify the presence of these
variants.
SARS-CoV-2 belongs to a group of RNA viruses that exhibit
spontaneous mutations. Some alarming variants have recently been
identified including: The new lineage B.1.1.7 first
identified in South England and
the lineages B.1.351 and B.1.1.248 initially
discovered in South Africa and
Brazil, respectively. All of
these variants appear to be more infective.
Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) is generally used for detecting
new mutations of the virus as part of epidemiological studies.
However, NGS typically takes three to five days. This is often too
slow to identify carriers of the new variants so that their
contacts can be isolated and tested as a matter of priority to stop
the spread of these variants in regions where they are not yet
prevalent.
Eurofins Technologies and Eurofins Genomics now offer kits and
primer and probes sets to identify the new variants. The GSD
NovaType SARS-CoV-2 Detect & ID available in Europe only is a Real-Time RT-PCR test for the
qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2, and the subsequent
identification of B.1.1.7 and B.1.351/B.1.1.248 variants. The
product has been validated as a two-step workflow with a CE-IVD
marked diagnostic test followed by an identification step (Research
Use Only "RUO"). Alternatively, laboratories can choose to request
just the RUO identification kit GSD NovaType SARS-CoV-2
ID.
Eurofins' global network of clinical laboratories is
continuously monitoring the emergence of additional SARS-CoV-2
variants of concern and expects to be at the forefront of launching
additional kits to detect those due to its unique integration of
capabilities across laboratory testing, primer and probe design as
well as IVD kit development. An updated version of NovaType able to
detect and distinguish additional variants is expected to be
released mid-February.
Further information about the kits can be found
here.
About Eurofins – the global leader in bio-analysis
Eurofins is Testing for Life. With over 50,000 staff across a
network of more than 800 laboratories in over 50 countries,
Eurofins' companies offer a portfolio of over 200,000 analytical
methods.
Eurofins Shares are listed on Euronext Paris Stock Exchange.
Notes to Editors:
For more information, please visit www.eurofins.com.
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SOURCE Eurofins