SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus causing the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). It is closely related to the SARS virus and was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. By now it has spread globally resulting in an ongoing pandemic.

Covid-19 FluoGene^® Q kit is a CE-IVD marked dual-target multiplex qRT-PCR for the qualitative detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) specific RNA. The system works with any RNA isolation method, but ideally it is combined with automated viral DNA/RNA extraction consisting of the BEXS12 instrument and the BEXS12 Ready Viral DNA/RNA Bead Kit.

The isolated RNA target is transcribed into cDNA and the target genes are amplified in a single step qRT-PCR. The primer probe mixes detect the SARS-CoV-2 specific genes M and N1, as well as the human RNase P gene as an internal control reaction. A positive control is included in the test system. The kit is validated on the FluoQube, QTower, ABI7500, and the QuantStudio 6 Pro.

UPDATE: Our newest Version of the test, includes an additional reaction for the detection of the N501Y mutation, which is present in all three variant-of-concern. Also the reaction mix was optimized and now takes less than 1 hour.