COVID-19: Spallanzani Institute and Diesse Diagnostica Senese announce an agreement for the development of serological tests.
Wednesday 18 March 2020Rome, 18 March 2020 – The "Lazzaro Spallanzani" National Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome and Diesse Diagnostica Senese announce that they have signed an agreement for the joint development of serological tests for diagnosis of COVID-19. The tests, currently under development, will be available from the end of April. In addition to complementing the diagnosis provided by molecular tests, especially in the case of asymptomatic subjects, they will make it possible to carry out epidemiological studies on the spread of coronavirus about which, unfortunately, there is little information available at present.
Diesse Diagnostica Senese, a leading company in the field of in vitro diagnostics, wishes to contribute to the fight against COVID-19 pandemic through introduction of these new diagnostic tests and thanks to the epidemiological surveillance activities of the Spallanzani Hospital, as it has already done recently for the Ebola project.
Maria Rosaria Capobianchi, director of the Virology laboratory of the "Lazzaro Spallanzani" National Institute for Infectious Diseases, commented on the agreement: "By virtue of its recognition as a scientific Institute for Research and Treatment, our institute has always been engaged in the development and validation of diagnostic tests for emerging infections, an activity typical of research to be shared, which should lead to a concrete and rapid benefit in clinical activities. In the current situation, the institute is a privileged interlocutor for companies engaged in the preparation of new molecular and serological tests related to the novel coronavirus, and provides scientific support in evaluating the performance of the new tests. The agreement with Diesse, a company with which the institute has already collaborated during the Ebola emergency, falls within this scope, and will allow us to have an additional tool for improving the diagnostic response to this emergency and to better understand the mechanisms of spread of the contagion".
Massimiliano Boggetti, Diesse CEO, says: "We are an Italian company that has forty years of experience in the creation and production of serological tests in the viral field. I am proud to combine our experience with that of the Spallanzani Institute, a world-class excellence in this area, and contribute to better diagnosis of COVID-19 patients."
