Absolute Antibody Ltd., an industry-leading provider of recombinant antibody products and services, has announced the availability of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies derived from individuals infected with COVID-19. The antibodies, originally generated by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, have been engineered into recombinant formats useful for COVID-19 research and diagnostic development. They are now available to scientists and diagnostic developers worldwide via Absolute Antibody’s online catalogue.
The new antibodies were generated from the blood cells of an infected COVID-19 patient and have shown in a recent study to display neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2. Two antibody clones (CV1 and CV30) each bound the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein, with CV30 also shown to bind the receptor binding domain (RBD) and inhibit the interaction with the host cell receptor ACE2. Both antibodies are now available in a variety of species, isotypes and subtypes designed to extend their usefulness in COVID-19 applications.
Absolute Antibody offers the SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in human formats such as IgG1, IgG3, IgM and IgA, for use in neutralization assays and as serological controls in COVID-19 diagnostic tests. In addition, the antibodies are available in species such as mouse and rabbit for detection applications and co-labelling studies; fragment formats for better tissue penetration and in vivo imaging; and with engineered Fc Silent domains to facilitate research into antibody-dependent enhancement. All antibodies are recombinantly produced for ensured batch-to-batch reproducibility, high purity and low endotoxin levels.
The new neutralizing antibodies join Absolute Antibody’s full collection of engineered coronavirus reagents, including the spike glycoprotein antibody clone CR3022, nucleoprotein antibodies, ACE2 Fc fusion proteins, and anti-human immunoglobulin antibodies for use in diagnostic tests.
Absolute Antibody is also supporting coronavirus research by providing antibody engineering and manufacturing services, including the production of gram quantities of human antibodies sequenced from recovering COVID-19 patients.

• For more information, visit: https://absoluteantibody.com/general/sars-cov-2-neutralizing-antibodies

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ELITechGroup Molecular Diagnostics, a leading global provider of diagnostic testing products, passed a significant milestone early August with the distribution of more than 3.5 million SARS-CoV-2 tests worldwide. The company has also installed more than 500 of its lead diagnostics instrument, the ELITe InGenius polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system, globally, with over a hundred placed since the beginning of the pandemic. The system allows laboratories to reliably detect SARS-CoV2 in only a few hours, as well as conducting parallel testing for other diseases, such as flu, in order to ensure a correct diagnosis.
The ELITe InGenius has been widely used in hospitals and other healthcare settings since 2016, and ELITechGroup was among the first companies to have SARS-CoV-2 tests on a sample-to-result system.
The ELITe InGenius is a fully automated solution that can process 12 samples in parallel to deliver results in less than 2.5 hours. This brings several benefits over centralized high-throughput testing approaches as there is no waiting for a large batch of samples to accumulate before testing, and no delays from sending samples off premises to a central laboratory.
By performing extraction, amplification and result interpretation in one device, the ELITe InGenius replaces the multiple devices needed to perform such tasks separately. Full automation also means there is no need for constant supervision, allowing laboratory staff to perform other valuable work. More importantly, the limited hands-on time helps reduce the risk of infection for users. The instrument is straightforward to use, with only minimal training required from ELITechGroup’s service and support team.
The ELITe InGenius offers the widest molecular diagnostics menu available on a sample-to-result system, with 38 CE-IVD assays dedicated to the unique needs of healthcare settings, be it immunocompromised patient monitoring; detection of respiratory, gastro-intestinal, sexually transmitted or nosocomial infections; meningitis and encephalitis, as well as diagnostics of genetic factors.
Commenting on the advantages of the ELITe InGenius for hospital settings, Dr Anna Paola Callegaro, Virology Area Coordinator and Biobank UOSD Director of ASST Papa Giovanni XXIII – Bergamo (Italy), commented: “The modular configuration of the ELITe InGenius system enables us to carry out molecular virology routine with results on the day. The sample-to-result solution reduces the need for manual intervention by the technician and allows the analysis of multiple viral targets on the same sample, thereby significantly improving the lab’s efficiency.”
Christoph Gaue, ELITechGroup CEO, said the company has expanded their manufacturing capacity to help provide additional ELITe InGenius systems to hospitals and laboratories, globally.
For more information, visit: www.elitechgroup.com
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The Native Antigen Company (now part of LGC’s Clinical Diagnostics Division), one of the world’s leading suppliers of reagents that enables research into vaccines and diagnostics for emerging and endemic infectious diseases, has introduced its custom contract service to rapidly develop antigen panels for influenza A and B viruses. This new service offers scientists access to high-quality proteins from emerging seasonal and pandemic influenza strains, to support ongoing research and development of diagnostics and vaccines.
The Native Antigen Company provides custom contract services to develop panels of the influenza antigens from a wide range of virus strains and subtypes using its proprietary HEK293 mammalian expression system (VirtuE), which is able to introduce proper protein folding and full glycosylation to closely mimic naturally occurring proteins.
The Company has already used this recombinant protein expression system to successfully develop a range of haemagglutinin and neuraminidase proteins for influenza A and B viruses, both of which spread routinely in humans and are responsible for seasonal flu epidemics each year. Its custom contract service could help researchers working with specific strains of influenza gain rapid access to highly purified proteins to conduct detailed assessments of immune responses with diagnostics, including vaccination responses to particular strains.

• For more information, visit: thenativeantigencompany.com/influenza-services-landing-page

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Thermo Fisher Scientific has expanded deployment model options for SampleManager LIMS software, offering laboratories end-to-end support of the software deployment in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud.
Under a contract agreement, Thermo Fisher will manage the entire deployment process from installation and maintenance to backup and recovery. As a result, laboratories will benefit from significantly reduced financial and human resource investment associated with setting-up, running and maintaining traditional on-premise deployments or deployments to their own cloud hosting service.
At the same time, laboratories will retain control over the software upgrades and validation schedule, while taking advantage of unlimited and secure access to data from anywhere at any time, which will drive well-informed decision making and easier cross-collaboration. Furthermore, AWS Cloud deployment will enable unparalleled levels of scalability, with the LIMS expanding to meet evolving business needs.
Richard Milne, vice president and general manager of Digital Science, said: “Life science and industrial laboratories are increasingly adopting a cloud-first approach to enterprise-wide LIMS implementation. However, managing deployments to a laboratory’s own cloud hosting service can be a costly and resource-intensive process. We have developed the new cloud services to alleviate this burden and enable SampleManager LIMS software customers to use the system’s superior functionality and integration capabilities without having to invest significant resources into the setup and ongoing management of a cloud environment.”
The Cloud Services offering has been designed to provide optimal data security and protection. In addition to the security features available through standard AWS Cloud deployments, Thermo Fisher also implements its own robust Corporate Information Security (CIS) program, which outlines additional measures in line with security-by-design principles to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of data.

• For more information, visit: www.thermofisher.com

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ender diagnostics, a Swiss company specializing in the development of rapid molecular biological tests, has launched ender MASS, its second CE-marked test to detect SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19. US FDA clearance is anticipated in September this year.
ender MASS is highly specific, easy-to-use and fast – providing results from a simple nasopharyngeal swab in 30 minutes. It is designed to enable rapid diagnosis for critical settings including schools, manufacturing facilities, travel, hospitals and care homes, as well as enabling centralized laboratories to accelerate and increase throughput.
ender diagnostics specializes in isothermal PCR-based test kits for laboratory and on-site diagnosis. It launched the ender LAB test in June 2020, which enables laboratories to directly detect SARS-CoV-2 on standard real-time PCR devices within 30 minutes, significantly faster than currently available PCR tests, which take several hours.
The newly approved ender MASS offers further benefits by enabling detection in a simplified and accelerated process, considerably reducing the workload for medical professionals and laboratories. It is designed to enable on-site and pop-up labs to operate rapid testing in diverse settings, potentially including travel-related locations such as airports and cruise ships. The simplified workflows and analysis mean laboratories can process up to eight times as many tests compared to conventional PCR testing over the same period.
The company is also moving ahead with development of a mobile point-of-care test for acute COVID-19 cases, called ender MOBILE. Launch in Europe is planned during Autumn this year.

• For more information, visit: https://enderdiagnostics.com

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