Roche Diagnostics India launches country’s first cobas 8800 for SARS COV-2 testing

Mumbai: Roche Diagnostics India has launched its first Cobas 8800 instrument at the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata, also known as ICMR-NICED. Cobas 6800 was launched at National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai also known as ICMR- NIRRH to aid with SARS CoV-2 diagnostic testing. Operating on the real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) platform, SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests on the instrument detects the genetic signature (RNA) of the virus in a simple test performed by a healthcare provider using nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab samples.

The globally widely available Roche’s cobas 6800/8800 systems provides test results in three and half hours and offer improved operating efficiency, flexibility and fastest time-to-results with the highest throughput providing up to 96 results in about three hours and a total of 384 results for the cobas 6800 System and 960 results for the cobas 8800 System in 8 hours. The test can be run simultaneously with other diagnostic assays provided by Roche Diagnostics, including HIV and Hepatitis.

Dr Shravan Subramanyam, Managing Director India and Neighbouring markets, Roche Diagnostics India said, “Diagnostic testing is an important element of India’s battle against COVID-19, as we see a steady rise in infections across almost all parts of the country. High-volume and high-quality diagnostic tests are important to provide appropriate clinical support in time and implement social measures that can further avoid the infected spread the virus. The cobas 6800/8800 addresses almost all of the challenges faced by the labs in pandemic times – reduced turnaround time, maintaining testing efficiency and improved productivity of lab personnel on account of automation. Roche Diagnostics India is committed to providing technologies to help healthcare providers and patients in India.”

Dr Smita Mahale, Director, National Institute For Research in Reproductive Health, Mumbai, said, “With this Cobas 6800 machine our COVID -19 testing capacity will go up to around 1000 samples per day.”

Dr Shanta Dutta, Scientist and Director, National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata said, “Cobas 8800 has added the much-needed impetus to our testing capacity. The high-end technology will help us perform real-time PCR testing for COVID-19 at a much larger and faster rate (at least 3000 tests per day). Our staff will be trained on the fully automated high throughput instrument which will help us in diagnosis and timely treatment, thus controlling the COVID-19 epidemic.”

The fully automated cobas 6800/8800 systems do not require sorting or batching of samples, reagent preparation, or manual set-up of runs.