Press release content from PR Newswire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation. SeqOnce Biosciences Announces AzureSeq RT-qPCR Assay to Detect SARS-CoV-2 E484K Variant of Concern March 10, 2021 GMT (PRNewsfoto/SeqOnce Biosciences, Inc.) PASADENA, Calif., March 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SeqOnce Biosciences, Inc., announced today the launch of its new AzureSeq One-Step Universal RT-qPCR kit for the detection of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 E484K variant. The AzureSeq One-Step Universal SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR E484K kit uses a single-tube reaction targeting the N1 nucleocapsid gene, both alleles of S gene E484K (G23012A), and includes RNaseP as a control. The assay uses common qPCR instruments with detection channels of FAM, HEX, Cy5, and ROX. Using RT-qPCR to detect the SARS-CoV-2 E484K variant is faster and allows far more samples to be screened, compared to sequencing.