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An RNA extraction kit that is in high demand for COVID-19 testing is on backorder, Germany-based diagnostics and biological supplies company Qiagen tells Politico. At manufacturing sites in Hilden, Germany, and Barcelona, Spain, workers are now staffing three shifts, seven days a week, a Qiagen spokesperson tells STAT, and the company is attempting to make the kits at its Germantown, Maryland, site as well.
The US Food and Drug Administration recently approved the use of another RNA extraction kit made by Roche, Denny Russell, who is leading the coronavirus response for the Washington State Public Health Laboratory, tells Politico. But labs must be equipped to use the Roche method, which requires different equipment than the Qiagen kit does. Michael Mina, a pathologist and assistant professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, tells STAT that Roche’s test is also on backorder. “[It’s] a very big problem.” ...
