The latest chapter in the COVID-19 story involves the variants, VUI 202012/01 (first detected in the United Kingdom), 501Y.V2 (identified in South Africa), and B.1.1.28 P1 (most recently discovered in Brazil).

Davide Manissero, MD, CMO, Infection and Immune Diagnostics for Qiagen, talks about the company’s ability to detect these variants that are highly-contagious, in this episode of Let’s Talk Medtech.

Most recently, Qiagen announced its polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests remain accurate and effective in detecting SARS-CoV-2 infections – and will continue to closely monitor their performance as global concerns mount regarding the detection of new viral variants by established testing methods.

Qiagen said it has successfully assessed its SARS-CoV-2 PCR tests against genetic mutations of the virus uploaded to the GISAID and GenBank public databases since May 2020. The latest round of assessments conducted in January 2021 again confirmed that no recorded mutations affected the sensitivity of Qiagen assays for detection of SARS-CoV-2. Surveillance of genetic variations will continue on a biweekly basis.

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