Success stories from the Welsh life science industry
Roche: How a global pandemic became the ultimate test of partnership working The whole life sciences industry, from multinational organisations to smaller companies, has mobilised in an unprecedented way to tackle the global COVID-19 healthcare crisis and has played a critical role in supporting the NHS across the UK, including within Wales. As SARS-CoV-2 – the virus which causes COVID-19 – started to spread, and the scale of the challenge came into focus, it was clear that Invitro Diagnostics (IVD) would be a crucial element in the response to the pandemic, and that tests would need to be developed from a standing start at a previously unsurpassed speed and volume. In just over a month, Roche (like other industry partners) identified the sequence for COVID-19, created a test which identifies if someone is currently infected by the virus, and secured regulatory approval.
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Considering it usually takes a minimum of two years to develop a test and get it approved for use, the sheer pace of progress with COVID-19 has been beyond belief. On 13 March 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised the emergency use of the Roche SARS-CoV-2 PCR test which could be run on fullyautomated platforms already installed in hospitals and laboratories around the world – including at the Magden Park Public Health Wales laboratory in Llantrisant. In the weeks that followed, Roche’s emergency response teams worked day and night to enable this equipment for the COVID-19 response and bring this test to patients as quickly as possible. What became apparent in those early weeks, and remains true to this day, is that the even greater challenge would be to produce and distribute the volume of tests needed across the globe.
“The whole IVD industry mobilised at an astonishing pace. Never before have we seen such rapid development and authorisation of assays. In the case of our PCR test that was an almost inconceivable 42 days from development to release.”
Peter Howell Customer Account Manager for Wales Roche Diagnostics
Just over a month later, Roche announced the launch of its elecsys Anti SARS-Cov-2 serology test to detect antibodies in people who have been exposed to the virus. There is still a lot that remains unknown about this virus, particularly if having the antibodies for COVID-19 confirms immunity, and how long that immunity will last. But reliable and accurate antibody
