CENTOGENE Releases New Swab Product to Facilitate COVID-19 Diagnosis

CENTOGENE, a commercial-stage company focused on rare diseases that transforms real-world clinical and genetic data into actionable information for patients, physicians, and pharmaceutical companies, announced the production and global distribution of CentoSwab. This sample collection kit is fully validated for pharyngeal sampling in the detection of SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. Manufactured in Germany, the kit consists of a sterile package containing a swab and collection tube. This solution is part of the company’s global initiative to support the logistics and fast diagnosis of COVID-19 as early as possible.
 
CENTOGENE CEO Prof. Arndt Rolfs stated, “We are all interested in stopping the COVID-19 outbreak. The critical solution to handling the pandemic is the early and fast identification of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals. This should not just be happening at the end of the virus’s cycle, after an individual has started demonstrating symptoms and already spread the virus. Fighting this pandemic and a further outbreak requires early preventive testing, and in turn, specific medical products which are currently in limited supply. The production and rapid delivery of these materials in large quantities will contribute to a significant decrease in outbreak as well as a return to normalcy.”
 
The CentoSwab production follows last week’s announcement that the company and Cologne, Germany-based blockchain startup Ubirch have developed a joint solution for the successful fight against the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the economy and social life in Germany. In the future, SARS-CoV-2 test results will be stored on the blockchain and can be retrieved at any time—serving as a virtual certificate of immunity to the virus. This could considerably accelerate the return to normalcy for our society and the economy.

CENTOGENE and Ubirch have joined forces to provide a readily available and secure solution that best accelerates the transition back to our familiar economic and social coexistence. Results from SARS-CoV-2 tests performed at CENTOGENE’s laboratories will be directly sealed virtually on the blockchain—similar to the way it is done at a notary in the ‘real world’—using the Ubirch solution. Whenever an individual needs to show proof that they are not infected by the virus—e.g., to gain access to a production plant, public transportation, or a hospital—the presented result can be verified with the help of a 100 percent genuine blockchain certificate. This form of distributed security has already proven itself in other industrial environments. The IoT-based procedure is ideally suited to secure and verify medical data.

CENTOGENE CIO Volkmar Weckesser stated, “We are convinced that only widespread testing of those currently infected with COVID-19 will bring us out of the current lockdown. For this purpose, we have developed an efficient test to screen for SARS-CoV-2 with an associated portal. Together with Ubirch’s solution, the test results can be accessed everywhere in a forgery-proof manner—spearheading a return to normality.”

Ubirch CEO Stephan Noller said, “We are working at full speed on this new partnership, because time is of the essence, and a lot is at stake. With our joint solution, it will be possible for people to present their corona test results at any time, and thus be able to move around freely again to a large extent. We have developed a central solution module enabling us to help swiftly lift the lockdown restrictions and move on to more targeted measures.”

Discussions are already underway with other partners—enabling companies to be able to quickly set up a coronavirus tracking infrastructure in which the results of mass screenings can be used to release people from quarantine or allow them to participate fully in economic and social life again.