NEW YORK – Takara Bio USA announced Monday it has collaborated with BioSyntagma and their partners to develop and validate a high-throughput SARS-CoV-2 detection method.
The method uses Takara Bio's SmartChip PCR instrument, chips, and reagents to run 5,184 reactions per chip in less than 30 minutes of direct hands-on time, the company said in a statement. Each chip can run 384 samples or assays and supports 14 different sample and assay configurations. Because each reaction is at nanoliter scale, the standard preamplification step is eliminated and variability is reduced. There are also less reagents used, reducing costs, the Mountain View, California-based subsidiary of Japanese firm Takara Bio added.
BioSyntagma, a biotech spinoff of Arizona State University based in Scottsdale, Arizona, is the development and validation partner of P2 Diagnostics and will adopt the SmartChip testing method. BioSyntagma is seeking Emergency Use Authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for SARS-CoV-2 detection using the SmartChip method. Ipsum Diagnostics and Hackensack University Medical Center received EUA for their SARS-CoV-2 tests that use Takara Bio's RT-PCR reagents, the company said.