IBCH PAS is developing coronavirus tests

2020-03-20

IBCH PAS is developing coronavirus tests
At Friday’s press conference, the Director of the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Professor Marek Figlerowicz informed that due to the continuing epidemiological threat and the need to extend the diagnosis of coronavirus infections, the Institute decided to support the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station in Poznań with its resources. The Poznań scientists are working on their test for the virus.

To this end, the Director of the IBCH PAS met with Dr Andrzej Trybusz, Director of the Sanitary Station. During the meeting, procedures were jointly developed to enable the use of the Institute’s top-class equipment in the fight against the virus.

The priority for the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences was to ensure the full safety of the employees (all of them are volunteers). Therefore, the procedure assumes that the initial stages of virus isolation from the material taken from patients take place in the Sanitary station. Then the safe samples are transferred to the Institute, where further diagnostic stages are carried out under the supervision of the Sanitary station staff. At this point it is worth adding that these works are carried out with all precautions. The laboratories which IBCH PAS has at its disposal are of the same safety class (BSL II) as the laboratories of SANEPID. The tests are performed by researchers and Ph.D. students of IBCH PAS, who have extensive experience in such analyses. 40 people work in shifts under the “viral support group”. Currently, 180 tests are carried out per day. Ultimately, up to 270 tests per day can be performed.

In order to support the supply of kits for isolation and detection of the virus, IBCH PAS decided to develop its own test, based on reagents from Polish manufacturers only and reagents of its own production which should be ready by the end of the week. As Professor Figlerowicz emphasizes, the IBCH PAS employees also declare assistance in organizing additional diagnostic centers in Poland.

The video from the conference is available on the IBCH PAS Facebook profile.