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PacBio Launches HiFiViral SARS-CoV-2 Kit and Microbial Whole Genome Sequencing Enhancements to Combat Infectious Disease and Strengthen Public Health Response to Pathogen Threats
Robust SARS-CoV-2 sequencing kit and upgraded microbial whole genome assembly workflow enable public health laboratories to scale pathogen surveillance
About this update from Pacific Biosciences Of California, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Robust SARS-CoV-2 sequencing kit and upgraded microbial whole genome assembly workflow enable public health laboratories to scale pathogen surveillance programs\nMENLO PARK, Calif., Nov. 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PacBio (Nasdaq: PACB), a leading provider of high-quality, highly accurate sequencing platforms, today announced the launch of the HiFiViral SARS-CoV-2 Kit – a fully kitted end-to-end solution for COVID-19 surveillance, which public health laboratories can use to identify new SARS-CoV-2 variants and detect all variants circulating within a population. The HiFiViral SARS-CoV-2 Kit is PacBio’s first kitted solution for genomic surveillance of COVID-19 variants. The assay leverages PacBio’s trusted HiFi sequencing to give researchers a more complete view of novel mutations of all types, ensuring that emerging variants are captured. “Accurate and timely detection of new variants of concern is critical to protecting public health. Our new HiFiViral SARS-CoV-2 Kit is a powerful solution that enables robust detection of new variants as they emerge without requiring periodic updates and revalidation to keep pace with the evolving SARS-CoV-2 virus,” said Christian Henry, Chief Executive Officer and President of PacBio. “As we look to the future and continue to invest in applications to improve human health, this solution offers a differentiated technology based on proven HiFi sequencing and helps address workflow and supply chain bottlenecks that have affected SARS-CoV-2 surveillance efforts to date, enabling laboratories to scale their testing with ease.” The HiFiViral SARS-CoV-2 workflow is a cost-effective and accurate method for viral sequencing, utilizing molecular inversion probes (MIPs) that provide significant workflow improvements over traditional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplicon-based methods. HiFi sequencing also enables laboratories to identify multiple virus types present within a single sample. The companion SMRT Link v10.2 software provides a simplified solution to perform quality checks on experiments and capture all types of genetic variation, which is critical information for public health surveillance efforts. Combined with the flexibility to run up to 384 samples at a time, this kit allows more labs to take advantage of powerful HiFi sequencing in the convenience of a ready-to-use kit. “With the Hi...