As governments in countries around the world actively search for an answer to how to effectively diagnose and treat the coronavirus, numerous biotechnology and diagnostic companies are scrambling to find answers at the same time.
We are all still learning the extent of the virus and how the implications might continue to ripple throughout the globe.
Graham Medley, director of the Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine stated “We’re going through the panic phase, “Governments don’t know what to do, people don’t know how to react. When we understand the risks, reactions will change.”
It is in these circumstances where small companies and academia often have a chance to shine. While larger agencies, companies, and bureaucrats disagree and haggle over paperwork, red tape and budgets, smaller, more nimble organizations can quickly become allies working together to efficiently process samples and detect the virus. These smaller, boutique biotechnology companies collaborate resources and capital to develop solutions that can be rapidly adopted and deployed.
BP Genomics, an innovative leader in detection assays, sample processing, and nucleic acid technologies has partnered with Opentrons, a unique and forward thinking liquid handling company, whose passion lies in democratizing the automated pipetting revolution. Collaborating together, they are now in the final stages of fully validating an end-to-end solution to collect, process and detect the coronavirus (2019_nCoV). This information will allow the global community to adopt a process and technology to enable a quick diagnosis for patients, which ultimately results in saving lives and preventing the spreading of the disease.