Thermo Fisher has launched its Applied Biosystems TaqPath COVID-19 high-throughput kit that allows laboratories to test up to 8,000 COVID-19 samples a day with fewer staffing requirements. The test is compatible with Thermo Fisher's Amplitude platform.
Amplitude is a molecular diagnostic system that allows labs to increase their COVID-19 testing capacity by combining Thermo Fisher's extraction and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) instruments with liquid handling products from the Tecan Group.
Most recently, Thermo Fisher received interim order authorization from Health Canada on January 21 for its Applied Biosystems TaqPath COVID-19 high-throughput assay and has won a contract with a large provincial authority in Canada for Amplitude systems.
Thermo Fisher now has the capacity to produce more than 20 million tests per week, the firm added.