The United States needs up to 193 million tests per month coupled with contact tracing and isolation of infected individuals to slow the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and mitigate #COVID19.

But current PCR diagnostic testing – one of the primary testing methods today has limits, with capacity at about 21 million tests per month.

Could mass testing with laboratory #antigen tests be the answer?

There is a growing belief that fast and accurate antigen tests may help bring the pandemic under control ahead of a possible vaccine.

Antigen tests differ from antibody and molecular tests and may help identify individuals with active COVID infections. For antigen testing to help medical professionals keep the pandemic at bay, vast numbers of tests must be available and utilized broadly.

Beckman Coulter’s new Antigen test for COVID-19 can deliver high-quality real-time results, with as many as 200 samples processed per hour. It can also be used to test both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients after exposure to individuals who have previously were infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Here's how it works:

Samples are collected via a nasopharyngeal swab.

These samples can then be kept for up to 24 hours without refrigeration.

Which enables flexibility in transport-to-lab for high volume testing.

Once the exaction agent is in the bar-coded test tube, the patient sample is added and incubated for 10 minutes or up to 6 hours before placing one or a batch of samples on the analyzer.

Results for an individual sample are available quickly (up to 30 minutes) on desktop analyzers. From 50 to 200 sample results can be delivered each hour, depending on the analyzers. Results may be automatically delivered electronically to the appropriate physician lab information system, public health agencies and patient portal.

Beckman Coulter’s COVID-19 laboratory antigen assay has several advantages over lateral flow or point of care (POC) tests.

Beckman Coulter is producing up to 25 million of its COVID-19 antigen tests each month, helping to fill the critical COVID-19 testing gap.

With the steep need for COVID-19 testing coupled with a shortage of PCR tests, Beckman Coulter’s new rapid antigen test creates the potential for mass testing programs with frequent testing within a population.

For more information, please visit www.BeckmanCoulter.com/Antigen.

#Coronavirus

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