South Korean Bio Technology Company Seegene has launched a new diagnostics test to identify Covid variants

Seegene, a popular biotechnology company from South Korea, has recently made an announcement that it has successfully completed the world’s first variant diagnostics test for Covid 19. The new test can now detect different types of Covid strains and with just one multiplex real-time PCR testing. The name of the test is titled ‘Allplex™ SARS-CoV-2 Master Assay,’ and this can detect Covid19 as well as other variants of Covid in the first round of testing. This method is very helpful as in recent times, the pandemic has evolved into more contagious variants, and it has also spread to more than 70 countries.

The new testing method will now detect a total of 10 targets, and this includes 4 Covid genes as well as the newly defined virus variants, including B.1.351 from South Africa, B.1.1.7 from the UK, P.1 from Brazil, and B.1.1.207 from the US. It is possible to identify four types of strains in one single test is possible only in Seegene’s testing method, and it is very important to do the same because it is easier to differentiate between the strains as the virus keeps evolving rapidly. CEO of Seegene, Dr. Jong-Yoon Chun, has stated that the testing burden can be reduced heavily with this new method, and his company will continue to monitor the virus for new variants.