Industry News: George Mason University employs rapid-result COVID-19 tests to control the spread of virus on campus
The testing capacity provided by the Fluidigm system aims to help the university limit the spread of the virus
11 Feb 2021
Fluidigm Corporation, an innovative biotechnology tools provider with a vision to improve life through comprehensive health insight, has announced that George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., is providing saliva-based COVID-19 testing using the Advanta™ Dx SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Assay on the Fluidigm
As part of an expansion of testing capacity for GMU students and employees, the university purchased two Biomark HD systems and has equipped labs on the university’s Science and Technology Campus in Manassas, Va., to process the Advanta Dx Assay, with initial plans to run approximately 10,000 tests per week.
House Insurance Committee Property and Casualty Subcommittee
Chairman Steve Tarvin (R-Chickamauga) and members of the Property and Casualty Subcommittee took action on some legislation this morning:
HB 241, authored by Representative Matthew Gambill (R-Cartersville), seeks to amend O.C.G.A. 33-7-6, relating to property insurance, contract requirements, rules and regulations, and exemptions, so as to revise the meaning of property insurance and also to change the parameters under which certain contracts, agreements, or instruments may be canceled. The legislation attempts to streamline service contracts like statutes are done in 49 other states and the District of Columbia and provide for the opportunity for cancellation of those contract with a refund permitted to unused premiums. The legislation received a DO PASS recommendation, moving the bill to the House Rules Committee.
Paul McManus / Sam Allen About Verici Dx plc www.vericidx.com Verici Dx is developing and commercialising tests to understand how a patient will and is responding to organ transplant, with an initial focus on kidney transplants. The body s own immune system poses a threat to a successful transplant or graft. Patients immune systems differ in how they respond to the presence of the transplanted organ, characterising this response is called immune phenotyping. Our products and solutions are underpinned by extensive scientific research into the recipient s immune phenotype and how that impacts on acute rejection, chronic injury and ultimately failure of the transplant. These immuno-profile signatures also inform clinicians as to the optimal strategy for immunosuppressive and other therapies for the most successful treatment to ensure graft acceptance with the least amount of side effects.
Natural reinfection with respiratory syncytial virus varies based on antibody response
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine found that while most individuals responded to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) natural reinfection with a typical sustained antibody response associated with protection, a few individuals surprisingly responded atypically, not being able to sustain the antibody response, which declined to levels that made the individuals susceptible to RSV reinfection.
The researchers highlight in their study, published in the journal
Vaccine, that their findings point at a subpopulation of people who also may not maintain an antibody response to vaccines and suggest the need to characterize patient-specific responses to respiratory viral infections, such as COVID-19.