T2 Biosystems’ T2SARS-CoV-2 Panel is now capable of detecting multiple variants of the COVID-19 virus including the Brazil variant, as well as other most recently identified in the U.K., South Africa and the U.S, last month, 99.99% of all strains.
February 4, 2021 /MarketersMedia/ —
T2 Biosystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTOO), a leader in the rapid detection of sepsis-causing pathogens, today announced that its T2SARS-CoV-2™ Panel—a molecular diagnostic test that detects SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19 infections—is capable of detecting the Brazil variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which was recently confirmed to be present in the United States.
As detailed in The Atlantic “Even in a year of horrendous suffering, what is unfolding in Brazil stands out. In the rainforest city of Manaus, home to 2 million people, bodies are reportedly being dropped into mass graves as quickly as they can be dug. Hospitals have run out of oxygen, and people with potentially treatable cases of COVID-19 are dying of asphyxia. This nature and scale of mortality have not been seen since the first months of the pandemic.
The variant in Brazil, has a potent combination of mutations. Not only does this variant seem to be more transmissible; its lineage carries mutations that help it escape the antibodies that we develop in response to older lineages of the coronavirus.”
The coronavirus variant from Brazil has been detected in a sample from the Bay Area, underscoring the urgency of the situation and need for testing, as researchers try to learn whether it, as well as others circulating in California, could undermine the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.
“We continue to actively monitor new variants of the COVID-19 virus to confirm that our technology remains a useful and reliable diagnostic tool for the many health care systems and people that need it during this time,” said T2 Biosystems’ President and CEO, John Sperzel.
Like the variants identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa, the Brazil variant contains multiple mutations, most reflected in the S gene, which encodes the spike protein. A specific analysis of sequences for the Brazil variant confirmed that the T2SARS-CoV-2 Panel should be able to detect this variant with high confidence and reliability. This analysis expands the proven utility of the panel beyond the previously announced capability to detect the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants.
To confirm that the T2SARS-CoV-2 Panel would detect the new Brazil variant, an in silico analysis was performed using genome sequences available in the GISAID database. SARS-CoV-2 (Brazilian variant) sequences were evaluated for alignment with primer and probe sequences from T2SARS-CoV-2 Panel. This analysis demonstrated that the T2SARS-CoV-2 Panel should detect the Brazilian variant of SARS-CoV-2.
The T2SARS-CoV-2 Panel, which has demonstrated clinical sensitivity of 95 percent and specificity of 100 percent, provides results in under two hours utilizing an upper respiratory swab sample. The test runs on the Company’s FDA-cleared and fully-automated T2Dx® Instrument, which is capable of performing seven tests simultaneously and up to sixty samples per day.
The same T2Dx Instrument is also capable of running the FDA-cleared T2Bacteria® Panel and T2Candida® Panel. These panels are the only FDA-cleared assays for the detection of sepsis-causing bacterial and fungal pathogens directly from whole blood in three to five hours, without the need to wait days for blood culture results. By providing quicker results, the panels enable clinicians to target therapy faster for their patients suspected of sepsis, often before the second dose of antimicrobial medicine is administered, leading to better patient outcomes, improved antimicrobial stewardship, and reductions in length of stay in the hospital.
These additional panels remain especially clinically relevant during the pandemic, as data suggests that the COVID-19 virus can lead to sepsis, and death.
About T2 Biosystems
T2 Biosystems, a leader in the rapid detection of sepsis-causing pathogens, is dedicated to improving patient care and reducing the cost of care by helping clinicians effectively treat patients faster than ever before. T2 Biosystems’ products include the T2Dx® Instrument, T2Candida® Panel, the T2Bacteria® Panel, the T2Resistance™ Panel, and the T2SARS-CoV-2™ Panel and are powered by the proprietary T2 Magnetic Resonance (T2MR®) technology. T2 Biosystems has an active pipeline of future products, including the T2Cauris™ Panel, and T2Lyme™ Panel, as well as additional products for the detection of bacterial and fungal pathogens and associated antimicrobial resistance markers, and biothreat pathogens.
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