Bio-Rad Laboratories announced that in two studies published this month, ahead of peer-review, researchers in China reported that Bio-Rad’s QX200 Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) System showed superior sensitivity and precision for clinical detection of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) compared to existing test methods that are performed using qPCR.

In the first study, clinicians in Wuhan, China observed that a subset of infected individuals who tested negative for COVID-19 using qPCR tested positive using ddPCR. The findings suggest that ddPCR can reduce false-negative results of COVID-19 without any increase to false-positive results, and could be a powerful complement to the current standard of testing. The study can be viewed here

The second study₂, led by the National Institute of Metrology and provincial CDCs in China, also concluded that Droplet Digital PCR significantly improves the diagnostic detection accuracy of SARS-CoV-2 from 28.2% to 87.4%, thereby reducing false negatives. Furthermore, they found that Droplet Digital PCR is more sensitive and suitable for low virus load specimens from patients under isolation and observation even without any clinical symptoms. The study can be viewed here

Bio-Rad is working to make ddPCR-based tests available for COVID-19 detection and is partnering with Biodesix in Colorado to bring an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) test online.

The referenced articles are preprints and have not been peer-reviewed. MedRxiv reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice. Articles on MedRxiv have not been finalized by authors, might contain errors, and report information that has not yet been accepted or endorsed in any way by the scientific or medical community.