SOPHiA GENETICS Partners to Provide COVID-19 Test 

Experts are saying 1 in 3 COVID-19 infected patients are getting a false negative result with current testing methods (see article from the wall street journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/questions-about-accuracy-of-coronavirus-tests-sow-worry-11585836001). In the landscape of containment, this is a scary statistic. With the next generation of testing, we hope to change these figures radically. SOPHiA is meeting with Senator Bennet on Monday to discuss our vision.

SOPHiA GENETICS has partnered with Paragon genomics to provide a SARS-CoV-2 NGS panel to sequence the whole genome of the virus with 99% coverage. The assay is sensitive down to one copy per reaction for degraded or limited sample input, which can be from swabs, washes, aspirates, etc. This means greater sensitivity and fewer false negatives. The data will then be available for analysis in your own bioinformatics or via a SOPHiA report and will allow for surveillance of mutations across time and geographies. This assay provides a quick and extremely sensitive presence/absence test AND provides the whole sequence for in-depth research and surveillance.

More details:
Enrichment method: Multiplex PCR
Platform: Illumina
Reference Genome: NC_045512.2
Number of Amplicons: 343
Number of Primer Pools: 2
Input of RNA Requirement: Approximately 50ng purified total RNA
Assay Time: 5.5 hours
Hands on Time: Less than 1 hour
Design Coverage: 99.7% complete coverage, except 92bp at the ends of the genome

The panel is available for shipment today and can be utilized immediately with electrophoresis for quick positive/negative results. NGS analysis via SOPHiA report will be available in approximately 3 weeks for further analysis of the entire viral genome.

Please contact me if you would like to learn more.

Katie King
SOPHiA GENETICS
kking@sophiagenetics.com