BEIJING/CALIFORNIA (Caixin Global): As fears mount that an existing test to identify the coronavirus is failing to catch many of those infected, California-based diagnostics firm Cepheid said on Monday (Feb 10) that it is developing an automated molecular test that is expected to deliver results in about 30 minutes.
Once the product is finalised, Cepheid intends to use the US Food and Drug Administration's Emergency Use Authorisation pathway for regulatory approval and make the test available globally. The company did not say when the new test would be available.
Health officials have recommended cheap, abundant, and generally accurate NATs as one of two main methods to confirm the presence of the coronavirus in humans. "At the moment, more and more cases in Wuhan are flaring up collectively in family groups, and the majority are of the concealed onset type," said Dr Zhang Xiaochun, a deputy director of the medical imaging department at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, one of the institutions at the centre of the outbreak.
But that method has its own problems. Although gene sequencing is comparatively accurate, it is also expensive, and not all affected hospitals have the necessary facilities.
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