Labcorp’s perspective: Responding to SARS-CoV-2 and the next pandemic

A team of Labcorp scientists published the following article in Nature. Authors included Oren Cohen M.D., Dot Adcock M.D., Patrick McLeroth M.D., Steve Anderson Ph.D., Brian Caveney, M.D., & Marcia Eisenberg, Ph.D.

Summary

The magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic has tested the limits of the response capacities of governments, public health and healthcare infrastructure, and diagnostic laboratories. Over the first year of the pandemic, more than 100 million cases of COVID-19 have been recorded, with more than two million deaths.

A critical component of an effective pandemic response is diagnostic testing capacity, and the pandemic continues to demonstrate the need to have this capacity with precision and at scale.

Commercial laboratories can be important partners in an effective pandemic response. Labcorp stands out for its ability to deliver scientific expertise, perform more than 275,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for SARS-CoV-2 on a daily basis, perform viral genomic sequencing, serologic and neutralizing antibody assays, and provide a full complement of drug and vaccine development capabilities.