GC biotech, CleanNA & inBiome forge strategic partnership to automate rapid COVID PCR testing

GC biotech & CleanNA (Double Helix Group, Waddinxveen, NL) and inBiome (Amsterdam, NL) have announced a strategic partnership to automate rapid COVID-19 PCR testing in the battle against the COVID pandemic. The project is taking place in The Netherlands.

This project builds on an already existing strategic partnership between CleanNA and inBiome and will increase the testing capacity for the Dutch Government through the use of high-throughput, automated solutions.

“This partnership enables us to use our automation and reagent expertise, combined with the scientific knowledge at inBiome, to contribute to the battle against the COVID pandemic” , Glenn Nohar, CEO, Double Helix Group.

Following inBiome’s validation study of CleanNA’s Clean Viral DNA & RNA Kit (CV-DR2304-SP) for isolation of COVID RNA, the companies identified a need to produce a rapid, automated COVID testing process. The resulting partnership has focused on leveraging inBiome’s deep knowledge of molecular diagnostics and respective clinical workflows, with GC biotech’s expertise in application of life science automation software and solutions. The companies have combined their insight with state-of-the-art robotics equipment, from Dynamic Devices (Phoenix, AV, USA), to deliver high-throughput automation steps of the COVID PCR test. Specifically, the automated solutions undertake the pre-preparation of PCR kits, sample RNA isolation with the Clean Viral kit, and post-isolation transfer to plates, ready for COVID-19 PCR detection of the virus.

With this initiative, all partners are continuing to grow their contribution in the fight against the pandemic, as this rapid automated process will add much needed testing capacity to the Governmental testing program.

“Strategic collaborations such as these, and the resulting innovations, offer healthcare services the tools they need to increase both the efficiency and quality of their diagnostic processes during these unprecedented times”, Dries Budding, CEO, inBiome.

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