Fujirebio Europe and CENTOGENE Enter Partnership to Provide Rapid and High-Quality Preventive SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Testing

GENT, Belgium and CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and ROSTOCK, Germany and BERLIN, Nov. 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Centogene N.V. (Nasdaq: CNTG), 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, and Fujirebio Europe announced today to have entered a partnership to leverage LUMIPULSE G technology for large-scale COVID-19 antigen testing with further deployment in German airports.

As part of the agreement, Fujirebio will provide a steady supply of Lumipulse G SARS-CoV-2 Ag assays running on fully automated CLEIA-based LUMIPULSE G1200 instruments. Sample collection is to be performed by CENTOGENE via the usual oropharyngeal swabs, with the analysis of the samples performed at CENTOGENE test laboratories, and the LUMIPULSE G1200 then supporting by delivering high quality results in up to only 40 minutes from sample receipt in the laboratory. These instruments will be an integrated part of the existing sophisticated automated CENTOGENE workflow that ensures fast and direct delivery of results to customers on their smartphones or digital devices.

“We are very pleased that CENTOGENE has chosen Fujirebio and the Lumipulse G platform to step up their current RT-PCR based COVID-19 testing,” says Christiaan De Wilde, CEO of Fujirebio Europe. “We are certain that the speed, high sensitivity and high quality of the Lumipulse G SARS-CoV-2 Ag testing solution combined with the flexibility of our platform to fit in the existing CENTOGENE workflow will ensure a trustworthy and efficient testing offer.”

Dr. Volkmar Weckesser, Chief Information Officer at CENTOGENE, stated, “Over the past months, we have seen an increasing need for easily accessible, reliable, and rapid coronavirus tests. We have been able to establish a blueprint for this - having set up test centers at four of Germany’s largest airports in the last six months. We are very excited to now expand on these services with the support of Fujirebio’s advanced technology. With this highly validated, customer-friendly solution, we hope to play an integral role in preventing further outbreaks.”

Lumipulse G SARS-CoV-2 Ag was the first high-sensitive antigen assay launched on a fully automated chemiluminescent platform. It has been used by Japanese authorities since August this year for quarantine screening of arriving travelers in major international Japanese airports.