2 June 2020 - - US-based molecular tool, assay and vaccine development company Longhorn Vaccines and Diagnostics and US-based clinical research logistics management company Cenetron Diagnostics have forged a collaboration with Southeastern Container, to expand production of COVID-19 testing kits, the companies said.

SEC is a co-operative funded and managed by a group of independent Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) bottlers serving the United States and Canada.

As part of the collaboration, Cenetron and other medical product manufacturers will begin producing COVID-19 testing kits using Longhorn's proprietary PrimeStore Molecular Transport Medium and preform Coca-Cola bottles, sourced from SEC, as test tubes.

The goal is to manufacture 1-2 m preform test tubes per week to help meet the broader US testing goal of performing 10 m COVID-19 tests per week.

Longhorn's PrimeStore MTM is the only FDA cleared nucleic transport device that inactivates microbes within the device.

By CDC guidelines, inactivated samples can be transferred to point of care devices and laboratory based molecular testing equipment without the need for a biological safety cabinet, reducing the time from collection to results.

Samples can be easily and quickly moved from the Coca-Cola preform to microcentrifuge tubes for rapid automation.

Cenetron, which was acquired by Versiti in 2019, has been manufacturing specimen collection kits for over 25 years and was Longhorn's first contract manufacturer of PrimeStore MTM. The Cenetron team has increased production capacity from 30L to 1600L per week and added additional filling shifts.

Versiti has opened up an additional site to further meet demand.

Longhorn Vaccines and Diagnostics is an innovative molecular tool, assay and vaccine development company focused on serving unmet critical needs in both developed and developing nations.

Longhorn's core product, PrimeStore Molecular Transport Medium, is a patented, FDA approved ambient temperature molecular diagnostic collection and transport device that can help governments, global health organisations and drug manufacturers improve the diagnosis and treatment of highly infectious diseases such as Influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Unlike standard devices for collecting and transporting TB samples, PrimeStore MTM is the first molecular transport device that can safely deactivate pathogens and stabilize RNA and DNA, allowing enhanced point of care and ambient temperature transport for laboratory based molecular testing and characterisation.

Longhorn is based in Bethesda, Maryland with a diagnostic research and development facility in San Antonio, TX.

Cenetron is a concierge clinical trial logistics solutions management company with more than 25 years of experience and hundreds of completed clinical trials worldwide.

In addition to offering industry-leading central laboratory services with an extensive test menu powered by Versiti, Cenetron provides solutions, like customisable specimen collection kits, tailored to fit unique clinical research parameters.