A new partnership united BioFire Defense, LLC, and the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) last week under a contract to develop a pan-coronavirus test panel for known, novel, and emerging human coronaviruses.
This panel, known as the BioFire Emerging CoV Panel, will be advanced by BioFire itself for use on its automated BioFire FilmArray Systems. A nucleic acid amplification test panel, it will ideally be able to detect and differentiate between coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2, MERS, and emerging coronaviruses, based on nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal samples.
Turnaround time for these tests is expected to be less than an hour.
Under the contract, BARDA will provide technical assistance and funding for BioFire’s efforts to advance both test development and validation activities, with the ultimate goal of achieving U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance.