On Aug. 5, 2020, the Tecan Group and Thermo Fisher Scientific announced a collaboration to enable scaled-up COVID-19 testing globally. Thermo Fisher Scientific was introducing a new highly automated, real-time PCR solution designed to analyze up to 6,000 samples in a single day to meet increasing global demand for COVID-19 testing. The high-throughput system enables laboratories to double or even triple their testing capacity to support global efforts to return communities back to work and school.

The system includes instruments of the Tecan Fluent Laboratory Workstation family, the highest performance platform within Tecan’s extensive portfolio of liquid handling solutions for laboratory automation and the Introspect software, an instrument and consumables usage analysis and reporting software.

The Thermo Fisher Scientific Amplitude Solution is a molecular diagnostic testing system that leverages the company’s Applied Biosystems QuantStudio 7 PCR instruments along with liquid handling products from Tecan. The modular solution delivers test results in a four-step process requiring minimal hands-on time, laboratory space and staffing resources.

The Amplitude Solution utilizes Thermo Fisher’s Applied Biosystems TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Kit, a fast, highly sensitive multiplex diagnostic test that contains the assays and controls needed for the qualitative detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The company will submit this new end-to-end solution to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) and plans to secure additional registrations globally.

As part of this offering, Amplitude Solution customers will enter into a supply agreement with Thermo Fisher to secure an up-front, confirmed and reliable supply of reagents and consumables. Backed by dedicated, 24/7 customer support from Thermo Fisher, the end-to-end solution, including the reagents, consumables and test kits, is available from a single source.