Rheonix said its COVID-19 MDx Assay can detect the newly emerging Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, as well as other variants that are of public health concern being monitored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The new B.1.1.529 variant of SARS-CoV-2, designated Omicron by WHO, was first reported in South Africa in November 2021, which the company’s COVID-19 MDx Assay will be able to detect.
“Rheonix continually assesses the potential impact of variants on assay performance by conducting ‘in silico’ analysis of publicly available SARS-CoV-2 sequence data as well as laboratory testing of prevalent variants,” says Gwendolyn Spizz, PhD, chief scientist at Rheonix. “The robust design of the Rheonix COVID-19 MDx Assay has allowed for the detection of all designated variants of concern to date, including the delta variant. Based on our analysis, we are highly confident in our ability to detect the Omicron variant, and we will continue to rigorously monitor the public genome databases.”
The Rheonix COVID-19 MDx Assay was first granted emergency use authorization (EUA) status in April 2020.
Since early in the pandemic, Rheonix has enabled local and regional hospitals to bring COVID-19 testing in-house, reducing turnaround time from two weeks to same-day.
“Throughout the pandemic, Rheonix has partnered with customers to rapidly deploy workstations, reagents and on-site customer service,” says Greg Galvin, PhD, founder and CEO of Rheonix. “We recognize the impact of global reagent shortages and supply chain disruptions, particularly for regional hospital labs and underserved communities, and we remain committed to supplying reagents and consumables to meet 100% of our customers’ testing needs. To support this commitment, Rheonix has dramatically expanded our manufacturing capability to ensure ongoing availability of workstations and test kits.”
