Thermo Fisher Scientific to enhance capacity for COVID-19 testing in India

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that it is accelerating its efforts with diagnostic testing and vaccine development technologies to effectively manage COVID-19 outbreak in the country. The company has has received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the US Food and Drug Administration for its TaqPathCOVID-19 Combo Kit for the qualitative detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal swab, nasopharyngeal aspirate, and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL).The company also received the CE mark in the European Union (EU) for its diagnostic test to detect COVID-19.

In India, Thermo Fisher is working closely with the relevant government organizations as well as private testing laboratories to support scale up of testing. Thermo Fisher has been supplying reagents and other personal protective equipments to several government approved testing laboratories across the country. These tests are performed on Real Time PCR instruments and can be conducted on other supplier instruments. The company has ramped up its efforts to produce these reagents and is well-positioned to cater to the growing requirement of conducting more tests as situation evolves.

The move comes in synchronization with utilizing Thermo Fisher’s Applied Biosystems Taq Path assay designed to provide patient results within four hours of a sample being received by a laboratory. The estimated time-to-result includes time for sample preparation and analysis. In addition to receiving the designated approvals in the U.S. and E.U., Thermo Fisher’s diagnostic test has received the designated approvals in India, Canada, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

“Thermo Fisher Scientific in India is geared to support COVID-19 testing initiatives to ensure priority access to instruments, consumables, safety supplies and other products to rapidly and efficiently respond to the outbreak. We are carefully managing our inventory, production and supply chains to ensure we continue to manufacture and deliver the products and services our customers rely on. It is times like these that reinforce our commitment to our mission which is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer”, said Amit Chopra, Managing Director, India and Middle East, Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Thermo Fisher has created an online resource to make it easier to find up-to-date information about its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including availability of its diagnostic test kits. Please refer to https://corporate.thermofisher.com/en/COVID-19.html for current news, information and frequently asked questions about COVID-19-related products and services that are vital to researchers, labs, healthcare workers and first responders worldwide.