Ben Butkus

The partnership, announced last week just before ECCMID kicked off, is the first major foray for both companies into the sequencing-based infectious disease diagnostics market.

The company will launch 37 CE-IVD-marked assays this year, mostly for infectious diseases, for use on the QuantStudio 5 Dx and eventually QuantStudio 7 Pro Dx platforms.

The blood-based assay, called Actiphage, combines phage-induced lysis of infectious bacteria and molecular detection of bacterial DNA.

The prototype assay, presented at ECCMID in Lisbon, integrates sample preparation and RT-PCR to measure a six-mRNA host signature.

COVID-19 accelerated the growth of several product portfolios, but under CEO Thierry Bernard, the company is ready to put the pandemic behind it — mostly.

Fluidigm CEO Chris Linthwaite said the company aims to further penetrate the diagnostic and clinical markets with both its microfluidics and mass cytometry businesses.

Qiagen has benefited from unexpected tailwinds due to COVID-19 testing and envisions post-pandemic growth with recently acquired NeuMoDx as a key contributor.

Fluidigm's Biomark HD microfluidic platform will enable more than 180,000 real-time PCR tests to be run over the next 90 days to potentially support COVID-19 screening.

Qiagen, which is also developing a single-plex qRT-PCR assay for SARS-CoV-2, said it will have a syndromic panel including targets for the virus ready this month.

Natera discussed its cancer and transplant rejection testing businesses, while Exact Sciences explained how it will benefit from its Genomic Health acquisition.