A trusted partnership to support reliable, high throughput PCR testing for COVID-19 in Germany

KH Labor GmbH is an independent company within the AMEOS group of hospitals, providing laboratory diagnostic services across 8 different sites in Germany. KH Labor offers a large spectrum of services to support hospital inpatient and outpatient testing, and COVID-19 testing for public health departments and agencies, and testing centres. The company’s mission is to provide optimal and comprehensive laboratory care to support appropriate patient management. With a focus on innovation and technology, and a team of highly skilled staff providing diagnostic tests to over 380,000 patients a year, KH Labor is the laboratory of choice for many medical clinicians in Germany.

Surges in PCR testing requirements with various COVID-19 variant outbreaks continue to present significant challenges for diagnostic laboratories to manage daily sample volumes. During these outbreaks, KH Labor demonstrated their ability to quickly adapt to meet these surging testing requirements, supported by the molecular diagnostic company, Genetic Signatures.

Genetic Signatures provide flexible multiplex real-time PCR testing, under the EasyScreen^TM brand, to support the detection of over 100 pathogens across a large range of infectious diseases. These test kits are underpinned by Genetic Signatures’ unique 3base^TM technology, which improves PCR efficiency, reduces the genetic complexity of detecting pathogens, and improves immunity to genetic variation. This is particularly beneficial for detecting SARS-CoV-2.

Over the past 18 months, Genetic Signatures has developed a close partnership with Dr. Mark Wasner, Technical Head of Microbiology and Molecular Diagnostics, and his laboratory team at KH Labor. The advantages of Genetic Signatures’ 3base^TM technology gave KH Labor confidence in their ability to detect known and new SARS-CoV-2 variants.

To support KH Labor’s high throughput requirements, the EasyScreen^TM SARS-CoV-2 Detection Kit is run on Genetic Signatures GS-1000 automated sample processing system. The GS-1000 system performs both sample extraction and PCR setup in a single automated system for fast sample processing of up to 188 samples and the capacity for up to 4x 384-well PCR setup for multi-panel assays. This workflow was further improved by KH Labor’s recent implementation of Genetic Signatures’ SARS-CoV-2 PCR FAST protocol, which significantly reduced the ‘time to result’ and improved daily throughput due to faster thermocycling.

The simplicity of the workflow, minimal training requirements and hands-on time allowed the KH Labor laboratory team to redirect their valuable time to other areas of priority. The flexibility of the system also allowed for variation in sample processing requirements and to scale up or down in response to testing demands. The team also valued the automated test interpretation software, GS-Call.

“GS-Call test interpretation software with its evaluation algorithms is a helpful tool that even the less experienced team member can quickly understand and use” 

Genetic Signatures’ high service standards provided by the local support team also provided KH Labor with confidence in meeting their daily testing needs.

“I would absolutely recommend Genetic Signatures. Technical support is fast and readily available and can be easily booked at any time – and agreed appointments are met. The GS-1000 system is reliable, the ordering and delivery process is uncomplicated and promises for supply are kept.” 

The partnership between KH Labor and Genetic Signatures is highly valued by both companies with a shared desire to work collaboratively to meet the COVID-19 diagnostic requirements. The team look forward to expanding the workflow to incorporate Genetic Signatures’ other 3base^TM assays.

For more information on Genetic Signatures EasyScreen^TM SARS-CoV-2 Detection Kit and broad range of diagnostic solutions for the syndromic testing of infectious diseases, visit www.geneticsignatures.com

Request to speak to your local Genetic Signatures specialist by clicking HERE.

Visit our recent blog that details the advantages of Genetic Signatures’ unique 3base technology for the SARS-C0V-2 testing here.