Qiagen, which is also developing a single-plex qRT-PCR assay for 2019-nCoV, said it will have a syndromic panel including targets for the virus ready this month.
The clinical study will evaluate a next-generation sequencing-based test, which has the potential to detect all known respiratory pathogens in 12 hours.
The company also said that it expects a clearance decision from US regulators in the near term on a lower respiratory tract infection test that runs on its Unyvero system.
The test detects 20 common viruses and bacteria that cause upper respiratory infections using the firm's high-throughput, automated MDx-3000 instrument.
The combined firm will be based in Gaithersburg, Maryland and will focus on infectious disease diagnostics and antimicrobial resistance prediction services.
Stakeholders discussed last year's decision by Palmetto to deny coverage for large respiratory panels and discussed the way forward for test developers and labs.
