The COVID-19 Pandemic – A Diagnostic Industry Perspective

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unprecedented changes to all facets of the healthcare system, including the diagnostic industry. The pandemic has highlighted both the challenges and strengths of the industry and has also provided valuable insights on how to be better prepared for future pandemics. In this perspective article, we describe the challenges faced by the diagnostic industry in general, particularly the difficulties encountered by Luminex Corporation, a diagnostic assay development and manufacturing company located in Austin, Texas, USA, as well as the mitigation strategies employed. In addition to discussion of the key challenges, the article provides insights on the lessons learned and steps that can be undertaken to better prepare for future outbreaks.

Smartphone-read phage lateral flow assay for point-of-care detection of infection

“…The global health crisis of COVID-19 revealed an urgent need for sensitive, rapid and easily deployable diagnostic tests for the detection of active infection. 1,2 Rapid tests are the point-ofcare alternative to gold standard RT-PCR, for frequent and affordable testing. Rapid antigen tests can screen for current infection at the point of care (POC), 3 and are used to identify and isolate infected people as early as possible to control the transmission, but typically suffer from inadequate sensitivity.…”