Australia’s SpeeDx expands COVID-19 diagnostics to include self-collected samples

Australia-based SpeeDx has added saliva to the list of validated samples for their PlexPCR SARS

CoV-2 qPCR diagnostic for COVID-19 sales across Europe. A preferred sample type for self-collection and compliance testing programmes, the saliva claim will expand the utility of the SpeeDx COVID-19 workflow, and in partnership with the Molgen range of automation, will further support ultrahigh throughput testing markets. SpeeDx new head office facilities in Sydney have expanded the company’s manufacturing capacity to support growth in export sales, and as international travel increases, demand for both COVID-19 and other respiratory testing is ongoing. PlexPCR RespiVirus, a highly multiplexed 11-target Respiratory viral panel that includes Influenza A, Influenza B, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus, can be run in parallel with PlexPCR SARS-CoV-2 for a more comprehensive testing solution and both are compatible with the SpeeDx PlexPrep robotic liquid handler, recently demonstrated to increase throughput 155 per cent and reduce hands-on time 19 per cent compared with a sample-to-answer testing solution.