The number of cases of 2019-nCoV infections in China is rising dramatically and cases in other Asian countries as well as in the USA were confirmed. Therefore, reliable diagnoses on a large scale are increasingly needed, even outside China.

altona Diagnostics is in the process of developing a molecular diagnostic assay for the detection of the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV, in close cooperation with major reference institutes for emerging diseases. The company is putting big efforts in this project to make a reliable test commercially available to customers as soon as possible. The scientists can draw on the experience of previous product developments for the detection of other emerging viruses. altona Diagnostics was one of the first companies to make reliable molecular diagnostic kits commercially available during outbreak situations for SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, Ebolavirus and Zika virus, among others.

The real-time RT-PCR based assay currently under development will be designed for the qualitative detection of 2019-nCoV specific RNA in respiratory samples.