Waters Corporation has introduced a new RUO LC-MS test method to advance critical infectious disease research. Waters SARS-CoV-2 LC-MS Kit (RUO) uses an orthogonal analytical method that directly detects and quantifies SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid (NCAP) peptides that initial studies have shown to yield highly accurate, quantitative results.

“For biomedical and clinical research laboratories that are involved in fighting the pandemic, this kit offers a useful research tool for deeper study of the virus and the versatility to enable pioneering research of other infectious pathogens,” said Dr Udit Batra, CEO and President, Waters Corporation. “The accelerated development of this method shows what’s possible through collaboration and represents an important step towards equipping scientists around the world with a highly versatile, reproducible, and quantitative platform capable of providing new insights into this and future pandemics.”

Waters developed the SARS-CoV-2 LC-MS Kit (RUO) in support of a coalition of academic, commercial and government research scientists1. This coalition worked to develop an alternative test method on LC-MS platforms in support of the UK's National Health Service (NHS) Test & Trace programme. Their goal was to create a complementary, high-throughput screening method that would also use different reagents to help relieve strain on the PCR reagent supply chain. In just 16 weeks, the research coalition went from the development of the method in university labs to a translated LC-MS workflow – upon which the SARS-CoV-2 LC-MS Kit (RUO) is based.

The Waters SARS-CoV-2 LC-MS Kit (RUO) has been optimised on the ACQUITY I-Class Plus System and the Xevo TQ-XS System. It comes in an adaptable automation-friendly format with liquid handling protocols for the Andrew+ Pipetting Robot on OneLab Software.

This kit is for research use only and has not been approved for use in clinical diagnostic procedures. This RUO kit has not been tested with clinical samples.