Mount Sinai Health System and PerkinElmer Collaborate to Accelerate COVID-19 Screening

PerkinElmer, Inc., has announced its collaboration with the Mount Sinai Health System to increase accessibility of SARS-CoV-2 testing in New York City. The laboratory system located at the Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital campus now has the capacity to process 25,000 (and ultimately up to 100,000) tests per day with PerkinElmer’s instrument and reagents.

RT-PCR testing is the most accurate method for detecting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The relationship forged between Mount Sinai Health System and PerkinElmer makes gold standard RT-PCR based SARS-CoV-2 screening available to schools and businesses throughout New York City.

According to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) companion resource, a highly sensitive RT-PCR test should be used for screening asymptomatic individuals. The PerkinElmer New Coronavirus Nucleic Acid Detection Kit is the most sensitive commercially available COVID-19 molecular diagnostic test authorized for emergency use, as reported by FDA’s reference panel study, and is ideally suited to support screening programs.

“Mount Sinai has shown extraordinary commitment and leadership in scientific and clinical efforts to beat this pandemic. We developed one of the first highly sensitive antibody tests, pioneered innovative therapies to treat COVID-19, and are researching the lingering effects suffered by ‘long-haulers.’ The Mount Sinai Covid Lab and testing program is designed to help our community in slowing transmission and getting us back to normal,” said David L. Reich, MD, President and Chief Operating Officer, The Mount Sinai Hospital. “We are proud to partner with PerkinElmer in expanding our testing capacity and footprint to serve our communities.”

“PerkinElmer is proud to lend its expertise in SARS-CoV-2 testing by supplying and supporting the Mount Sinai Health System with reagents, automation equipment and consumables that are critical to meet laboratory operational needs,” said Arvind Kothandaraman, managing director, specialty diagnostics at PerkinElmer. “We are humbled and inspired by the work of our long-standing collaborators at Mount Sinai, who go above and beyond to help underserved communities in New York City that have been profoundly affected by the pandemic.”