Faced with the sudden COVID-19 crisis, all countries around the world responded quickly and united to fight the epidemic. In this issue, we introduce to you the response plans of 7 different life science companies in response to the COVID-19 epidemic.
Faced with the sudden COVID-19 crisis, all countries around the world responded quickly and united to fight the epidemic. In the spirit of defeating the epidemic to ensure the health of all mankind, major life science companies around the world are actively sharing important data, information, resources, plans and reagents related to the epidemic with all parts of the world. Exchanges between researchers from various countries have changed. get closer.
This is exactly the kind of groundbreaking collaboration we’ve come to expect.
In this issue, we will introduce to you some outstanding anti-epidemic solutions created by Opentrons customer companies.
ADT biotech
ADT Biotech is an ISO 13485 certified IVD testing reagent manufacturer dedicated to Providing molecular diagnostic solutions for emerging diseases in the Asia-Pacific region and developing countries. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when almost all cases were confined to China, ADT Biotech decided to develop a product that could detect the pathogen with high sensitivity and speed. The product has since been clinically validated by referral centers in Malaysia and Thailand and has been incorporated by the Malaysian Ministry of Health into all government laboratories under its jurisdiction.
“We are fortunate that we were able to make the decision at an early stage to automate the production of key assay steps with the Opentrons OT-2 robot,” said Dr. Finn Zedler, General Manager of ADT Biotech. “This system significantly increases our production capacity by allowing us to process routine steps faster, standardize workflows and reduce the risk of errors when manufacturing large quantities of products.”
bf or cure
BforCure is a company that provides high-speed, quantitative biosensing solutions and R&D services. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, they have focused on providing qPCR-based diagnostic services and have received approval from the French military to provide qPCR diagnostic services and deploy their high-speed PCR equipment. The device uses microfluidic technology to change temperatures quickly and accurately and can complete at least 40 thermal cycles in 10 minutes.
BforCure uses Opentrons OT-2 to automate diagnostic sample preparation. Axel Philip, a research engineer at BforCure, said: “OT-2 has improved our detection capabilities because our team is small and everyone has a lot of work to do. Before introducing the robot, it usually took me 1-1.5 hours to prepare for the move. Now, it only takes me 5 minutes to put the test tube on the robot, and the machine does the rest. It’s like adding a manpower to the team. In 2 days, we can complete what would have taken 2 weeks. Work."
fa CIB LE bio diagnostics
Facible Biodiagnostics is a start-up company dedicated to developing biological diagnostic methods. They are developing a rapid, accurate and affordable diagnostic method for the new coronavirus. The test targets the S1 and S2 proteins on the viral envelope and uses proprietary technology. Nicholas Hagen Shults, principal research technologist at Facible Biodiagnostics, said: “Our technology does not require the use of any antibodies, which means we are able to test at a much faster rate and still achieve the same, if not better, results than other antibody diagnostic tests. Good) combines specificity and accuracy. Our goal is to produce a rapid, point-of-care test that can be used in clinics and hospitals, takes 5 minutes or less, and is 95% accurate or better."
While their OT-2 pipetting workstation is not part of this solution, Facible Biodiagnostics uses the OT-2 in their labs for many different procedures and protocols, including dilution, mixing, dispensing, and incubation. “Whether we need greater accuracy or need to run a repetitive program that frees up our staff, using the OT-2 and its add-ons has reduced our production timelines and streamlined our workflow,” Shults explain.
open cell
OpenCell provides affordable lab space to early-stage biotech startups in London. They are now rapidly expanding high-throughput nucleic acid testing facilities in shipping containers that can be deployed anywhere and expanding testing capacity from 500 to more than 10,000 tests per day. They provide their blueprints, protocols and other resources to the life sciences community for free.
They are using an Opentrons OT-2 liquid handler to automate RT-qPCR testing of 92 samples simultaneously. In this process, they used open source magnetic beads to automate a rate-limiting step (RNA extraction). They also used OT-2 for qPCR preparation. "With five OT-2 robots in use, four of which are used for the RNA extraction step, we can perform over 2,500 tests in 24 hours with just 1-2 operators," said OpenCell Director Helene Steiner.
Nov ICI biotech
Novici Biotech produces recombinant proteins, DNA libraries and DNA errors for the synthetic biology market Corrective techniques. Currently, they are making monoclonal antibody CR3022, a promising antibody that can bind to SARS-COV-2 . In less than four weeks, they used raw data from the preprint to design and manufacture IgG1 and IgG4 variants of the antibody and donated the first batch of antibodies to BEI Resources for distribution to researchers.
"We used Opentrons OT-2 to optimize expression in transient tobacco plants of the monoclonal antibody CR3022, which binds to SARS-CoV-2," said senior scientist Matthew McGee. "One of the ways we improve recombinant protein expression in plants is through host engineering, which sometimes involves transient expression of host-modifying genes using the plant pathogenic bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The optimization process requires precise handling of relatively large numbers of samples, and Opentrons OT-2 allows us to Accurately dilute each Agrobacterium tumefaciens culture from our library into 96-well plates ready for use in plant research.
“For me, the OT-2 is most valuable in reproducibly dispensing complex arrays. If I had to manually change the volume of each well in a 96-well plate to pipet, by probably the 60th well, I would be Arrive or not, I can’t avoid making mistakes.”
tech bio solutions
TechBio Solutions provides compliance solutions for life sciences manufacturing facilities, including monitoring systems, mapping , maintenance, calibration of particle counters and data loggers. TechBio Solutions, a reseller of Opentron's, is recently using the OT-2 for two processes, COVID-19 RT-PCR preparation using multiple kits and NGS preparation for genotyping projects. “Our goal is to help integrate multi-center inspection facilities, like in India, where quality and process control monitoring can be done remotely.” Vishnu Raja said: “For a market that is cost-conscious and has limited resources, the Opentrons system may be the The most cost-effective technology.”
ZY MO research
Zymo Research is a company that provides biomedical tools and services to researchers. Now, they are doing so by creating a complete COVID-19 testing workflow, including sample collection, RNA extraction and RT-PCR-based detection helps laboratories carry out new coronavirus detection work, the process Currently accepting FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization Review.
“The process begins with the use of a transport medium, DNA/RNA Shield, to protect the coronavirus during sample collection and transport. The virus is completely inactivated because it can preserve RNA at room temperature for up to 30 days," said research specialist Casey Cruz. "Next, we performed RNA extraction using the Quick-DNA/RNA Viral Magnetic Bead Kit, and then used Quick-SARS-CoV-2 rRT-PCR test kit completes the coronavirus detection work.”
Zymo Research offers a range of resources for life sciences labs wanting to create their own COVID-19 testing workflows, as well as for those interested in loading their reagents into Opentrons OT-2 Robot provides technical support to Opentrons customers.
If you would like to deploy an Opentrons system in your laboratory, please contact marketing.china@opentrons.com
