Stock-listed Genomtec said that the new kit means that in addition to greater comfort and convenience for patients, due to the lack of swabbing, saliva testing also reduces the chances of transmission of Covid-19 to medical personnel.
According to the company, the test is designed to detect the SARS-CoV-2 S and N genes. It does not require nucleic acid purification and can provide results in several minutes. The test is currently offered through the medical center in Wroclaw, Dolnośląskie Centrum Medyczne, a reference lab for Genomtec's products. It is compatible with standard RT-PCR instrumentation, the company added.
"By elimination of the laboratory nucleic acid purification stage from biological material, we have shortened the processing time and simplified the entire diagnostic process, which also reduces its cost of labor," Miron Tokarski, Genomtec's president, said in a statement. "Our new genetic tests from saliva will be able to increase the laboratories' diagnostic throughput by several times."