The Synevo laboratory, part of the Swedish holding Medicover, has launched PCR tests that detect British and South African coronavirus (COVID-19) strains, including their currently known mutations.
According to Synevo’s press release, new PCR tests are carried out on new generation equipment and reagents from the U.S. company Abbott.
Investments in equipment for testing (two analyzers) amounted to more than EUR 200,000.
The tests detect the virus at the earliest stages of the disease, when the virus cells are still very little in the body, while other test systems will still give false negative results, although the person is already sick.
According to Synevo Development Director Mykola Butenko, new PCR tests allow detecting British and South African COVID-19 strains with the same accuracy as the previous COVID-19 strains.
In addition, new PCR tests, in addition to detecting COVID-19, can determine the viral load of SARS-CoV-2 on the body and the likely stage of the disease.
“We have received official confirmation from the head office of Abbott in the United States that new PCR tests detect two new strains of coronavirus: British and South African. These results were obtained by Abbott in clinical trials, and the reagents have already received international FDA accreditation,” Butenko said in a press release.
Synevo said that Abbott’s PCR tests are one of the most reliable in the world, their sensitivity is only 100 copies per 1 ml of biomaterial, while the sensitivity of other PCR tests for COVID-19 available on the Ukrainian market, from 400 copies and higher. This sensitivity allows almost completely eliminate false negative results.
Synevo is Ukraine’s largest network of medical laboratories, a division of the Swedish medical holding Medicover. The Synevo network consists of more than 300 laboratory centers operating in more than 115 cities throughout Ukraine, as well as seven laboratories in which more than 1,500 types of tests are performed.
