Synevo, the largest network of laboratories in Ukraine, has invested EUR 200,000 in launching the next generation of high-precision PCR tests for COVID-19.

According to a press release from the company, due to the high sensitivity of reagents and the use of new technologies, new PCR tests, in addition to detecting the SARS-CoV-2 virus itself, allow determining the viral load and the likely stage of the disease, and also almost completely eliminate false negative results.

To conduct new tests, Synevo purchased reagents and equipment from the American company Abbott, the equipment capacity allows it to perform up to 30,000 tests per month.

The sensitivity of new tests is 100 copies per ml of biomaterial, while the sensitivity of the overwhelming majority of tests on the Ukrainian market is from 400 copies and higher.

"The new test systems will be able to detect a positive result for COVID-19 at the earliest or latest stages of the disease, when there is very little virus in the body, while other test systems will still give false negative results, although the person is sick," Mykola Butenko, the development director of Synevo, said.

Abbott test kits are clinically tested and are CE and FDA internationally accredited. Similar reagents for testing the population are used by the leading laboratories in the United States and Europe.

New PCR tests will take 48 hours for a negative result and 72 hours for a positive result.

The cost of the test is UAH 1,900.