Diagnostics company Seegene Inc (KQ 096530) stated on Wednesday that it plans to introduce the Allplex SARS-CoV-2 Fast PCR Assay that can deliver PCR results in just 60 minutes in late January 2022.

Based in South Korea, the company said that this assay is expected to reduce the total turnaround time to a third and expand testing capacity up to three times for hospitals and laboratories, without additional instruments or compromise on accuracy. The new COVID-19 test supports swift, large-scale lab testing with the same degree of accuracy as the conventional PCR test.

The company added that the reduction of the turnaround time was attributable to the application of a novel enzyme, which reduces PCR process time to half as well as its innovative extraction-free method, which can let Allplex SARS-CoV-2 Fast PCR Assay to be available without the extraction of the sample preparation in PCR-based tests. This drastically reduces the total turnaround time for each result.

According to the company, the Allplex SARS-CoV-2 Fast PCR Assay targets three COVID-19 genes––E, RdRP and N–– to reliably detect COVID-19 regardless of the variants.

Based on the clinical research conducted by 17 laboratories in seven countries, the company's Allplex SARS-CoV-2 Fast PCR Assay showed the same or better accuracy for the COVID-19 detection as other diagnostic tests available in the market. The new assay lessens the amount of hands-on processing time required, allowing facilities to triple their testing capacity in the same hour.