Ben Butkus

The blood-based assay, called Actiphage, combines phage-induced lysis of infectious bacteria and molecular detection of bacterial DNA.

The prototype assay, presented at ECCMID in Lisbon, integrates sample preparation and RT-PCR to measure a six-mRNA host signature.

COVID-19 accelerated the growth of several product portfolios, but under CEO Thierry Bernard, the company is ready to put the pandemic behind it — mostly.

Fluidigm CEO Chris Linthwaite said the company aims to further penetrate the diagnostic and clinical markets with both its microfluidics and mass cytometry businesses.

Qiagen has benefited from unexpected tailwinds due to COVID-19 testing and envisions post-pandemic growth with recently acquired NeuMoDx as a key contributor.

Fluidigm's Biomark HD microfluidic platform will enable more than 180,000 real-time PCR tests to be run over the next 90 days to potentially support COVID-19 screening.

Qiagen, which is also developing a single-plex qRT-PCR assay for SARS-CoV-2, said it will have a syndromic panel including targets for the virus ready this month.

Exact Sciences CEO Kevin Conroy discussed the firm's pipeline and plans for 2020 and beyond, while NanoString CEO Brad Gray talked about the company's GeoMx digital spatial profiling technology, among other presentations Wednesday.

On the second day of the conference, updates came not just from the publicly traded industry giants but also privately held firms of interest, such as Caris and GenapSys.

On Monday Qiagen reiterated its preliminary 2019 earnings figures and addressed an investor's wrath, while Guardant Health highlighted its cancer testing plans.