We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

New SARS-CoV-2 Kit Simultaneously Detects Four COVID-19 Variants with Single RT PCR Test

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 12 Oct 2021

Image: KANEKA RT-PCR Kit SARS-CoV-2 (Photo courtesy of Kaneka Corporation)

Image: KANEKA RT-PCR Kit SARS-CoV-2 (Photo courtesy of Kaneka Corporation)

A new real-time PCR test kit is capable of simultaneously detecting four variants of COVID-19.

Kaneka Corporation (Tokyo, Japan) has launched its new KANEKA RT-PCR Kit SARS-CoV-2 (L452R/E484Q/E484K/N501Y), a real-time PCR test kit that is capable of simultaneously detecting four variants of COVID-19. The test kit uses a reagent developed using Kaneka's molecular testing-related technologies. The reagent makes it possible to simultaneously detect four mutations of the spike protein (the N501Y, E484K, E484Q, and L452R mutations) with a single PCR test. Based on the mutation detection patterns, it can efficiently detect two variants (the Alpha, Delta, Kappa, and Beta or Gamma variants).

The PCR kit for detecting COVID-19 released by Kaneka last year received approval in June of this year as KANEKA Direct RT-PCR kit SARS-CoV-2 for use as an In-Vitro Diagnostic reagent. It is widely used in medical facilities and testing centers. By adding this new COVID-19 variant PCR test kit to its lineup, the company is aiding the rapid detection of variants and the prevention of the spread of COVID-19.

Related Links:
Kaneka Corporation

Visit expo >

Gold Member

Flu SARS-CoV-2 Combo Test

OSOM® Flu SARS-CoV-2 Combo Test

Collection and Transport System
PurSafe Plus®

Urine Chemistry Control

Dropper Urine Chemistry Control

Autoimmune Liver Diseases Assay

Microblot-Array Liver Profile Kit

Latest COVID-19 News

Channels

Clinical Chemistry

view channel

Image: Schematic diagram of esophageal cancer cell identification research process (Photo courtesy of GE Dianlong)

VOCs Show Promise for Early Multi-Cancer Detection

Early cancer detection is critical to improving survival rates, but most current screening methods focus on individual cancer types and often involve invasive procedures. This makes it difficult to identify... Read more

Image: Portable Raman spectroscopy could help detect kidney disease at POC (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Portable Raman Spectroscopy Offers Cost-Effective Kidney Disease Diagnosis at POC

Kidney disease is typically diagnosed through blood or urine tests, often when patients present with symptoms such as blood in urine, shortness of breath, or weight loss. While these tests are common,... Read more

Image: Mesoporous gold nanoparticles have unique biosensing capabilities (Photo courtesy of The University of Queensland)

Gold Nanoparticles to Improve Accuracy of Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis

Ovarian cancer is considered one of the deadliest cancers, in part because it rarely shows clear symptoms in its early stages, and diagnosis is often complex. Current approaches make it difficult to accurately... Read more

Simultaneous Cell Isolation Technology Improves Cancer Diagnostic Accuracy

Accurate cancer diagnosis remains a challenge, as liquid biopsy techniques often fail to capture the complexity of tumor biology. Traditional systems for isolating circulating tumor cells (CTCs) vary in... Read more

Molecular Diagnostics

view channel

Image: The Elecsys Dengue Ag assay is intended for the in vitro qualitative detection of dengue virus NS1 antigen in human serum and plasma (Photo courtesy of Roche)

Automated Test Distinguishes Dengue from Acute Fever-Causing Illnesses In 18 Minutes

Dengue fever remains the most common mosquito-borne viral infection worldwide, posing a major public health challenge as global cases continue to surge. In 2024 alone, more than 14.6 million infections... Read more

Image: The VITROS hs Troponin I Assay is designed for use on VITROS Systems (Photo courtesy of QuidelOrtho)

High-Sensitivity Troponin I Assay Aids in Diagnosis of Myocardial Infarction

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for adults over 45 in the United States, accounting for nearly one in three deaths. In 2023 alone, 919,032 Americans died from cardiovascular disease —... Read more

Fast Low-Cost Alzheimer’s Tests Could Detect Disease in Early and Silent Stages

Early diagnosis remains one of the greatest challenges in combating Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of age-related dementia. With symptoms like memory loss and confusion typically appearing... Read more

Image: Researchers have identified a key biomarker to improve renal cell carcinoma diagnosis (Photo courtesy of 123RF)

Further Investigation of FISH-Negative Tests for Renal Cell Carcinoma Improves Diagnostic Accuracy

Accurate diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is critical to determining the right therapy, but standard diagnostic methods can sometimes miss important genetic alterations. Now, researchers have discovered... Read more

Hematology

view channel

ADLM’s New Coagulation Testing Guidance to Improve Care for Patients on Blood Thinners

Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are one of the most common types of blood thinners. Patients take them to prevent a host of complications that could arise from blood clotting, including stroke, deep... Read more

Viscoelastic Testing Could Improve Treatment of Maternal Hemorrhage

Postpartum hemorrhage, severe bleeding after childbirth, remains one of the leading causes of maternal mortality worldwide, yet many of these deaths are preventable. Standard care can be hindered by delays... Read more

Image: New research points to protecting blood during radiation therapy (Photo courtesy of 123RF)

Pioneering Model Measures Radiation Exposure in Blood for Precise Cancer Treatments

Scientists have long focused on protecting organs near tumors during radiotherapy, but blood — a vital, circulating tissue — has largely been excluded from dose calculations. Each blood cell passing through... Read more

Image: Platelets sequester cfDNA during circulation (Murphy L. et al., Science, 2025; DOI: 10.1126/science.adp3971)

Platelets Could Improve Early and Minimally Invasive Detection of Cancer

Platelets are widely recognized for their role in blood clotting and scab formation, but they also play a crucial role in immune defense by detecting pathogens and recruiting immune cells.... Read more

Immunology

view channel

Image: The labyrinth chip could one day help doctors look for aggressive, stem-like cancer cells in patient blood (Photo courtesy of Joseph Xu/Michigan Engineering)

Chip Captures Cancer Cells from Blood to Help Select Right Breast Cancer Treatment

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) accounts for about a quarter of all breast cancer cases and generally carries a good prognosis. This non-invasive form of the disease may or may not become life-threatening.... Read more

Image: The new liquid biopsy model can predict patient response to immune checkpoint therapies (Photo courtesy of 123RF)

Blood-Based Liquid Biopsy Model Analyzes Immunotherapy Effectiveness

Immunotherapy has revolutionized cancer care by harnessing the immune system to fight tumors, yet predicting who will benefit remains a major challenge. Many patients undergo costly and taxing treatment... Read more

Image: The research provides the first detailed view of how immune cells expand during cancer treatment and how this process can be restored (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Signature Genes Predict T-Cell Expansion in Cancer Immunotherapy

Modern cancer immunotherapies rely on the ability of CD8⁺ T cells to rapidly multiply within tumors, generating the immune force needed to eliminate cancer cells. However, the biological triggers behind... Read more

Molecular Microscope Diagnostic System Assesses Lung Transplant Rejection

Lung transplant recipients face a significant risk of rejection and often require routine biopsies to monitor graft health, yet assessing the same biopsy sample can be highly inconsistent among pathologists.... Read more

Microbiology

view channel

High-Throughput Enteric Panels Detect Multiple GI Bacterial Infections from Single Stool Swab Sample

Gastrointestinal (GI) infections are among the most common causes of illness worldwide, leading to over 1.7 million deaths annually and placing a heavy burden on healthcare systems. Conventional diagnostic... Read more

Image: Sugar fingerprints open new possibilities for faster and more reliable diagnosis of fungal infections (Photo courtesy of 123RF)

Fast Noninvasive Bedside Test Uses Sugar Fingerprint to Detect Fungal Infections

Candida bloodstream infections are a growing global health threat, causing an estimated 6 million cases and 3.8 million deaths annually. Hospitals are particularly vulnerable, as weakened patients after... Read more

Image: A clinical test and handheld device could quickly classify sepsis patients into two groups (Photo courtesy of Sara Moser/WashU Medicine)

Rapid Sepsis Diagnostic Device to Enable Personalized Critical Care for ICU Patients

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body’s response to infection spirals out of control, damaging organs and leading to critical illness. Patients often arrive at intensive care... Read more

Image: The CD Chip (top) and The CD² Chip (bottom) (Photo courtesy of YANG Xiao)

Microfluidic Platform Assesses Neutrophil Function in Sepsis Patients

Sepsis arises from infection and immune dysregulation, with neutrophils playing a central role in its progression. However, current clinical tools are unable to both isolate these cells and assess their... Read more

Pathology

view channel

Image: Structural variants detected by GPM (He Fang et al., The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics (2025); DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoldx.2025.07.005)

3D Genome Mapping Tool to Improve Diagnosis and Treatment of Genetic Diseases

Standard laboratory tests often fail to detect complex DNA rearrangements that underlie many genetic diseases. To bridge this diagnostic gap, researchers have developed a 3D chromosome mapping method that... Read more

Image: The artistic rendering depicts proteins (colored shapes) being analyzed by solid-state nanopores under varying voltage conditions (Photo courtesy of Sotaro Uemura/The University of Tokyo)

New Molecular Analysis Tool to Improve Disease Diagnosis

Accurately distinguishing between similar biomolecules such as proteins is vital for biomedical research and diagnostics, yet existing analytical tools often fail to detect subtle structural or compositional... Read more

Tears Offer Noninvasive Alternative for Diagnosing Neurodegenerative Diseases

Diagnosing and monitoring eye and neurodegenerative diseases often requires invasive procedures to access ocular fluids. Ocular fluids like aqueous humor and vitreous humor contain valuable molecular information... Read more

Image: The AI-based tool combines blood biomarkers and gene activity to more precisely track biological ageing (Photo courtesy of 123RF)

AI-Powered Method Combines Blood Data to Accurately Measure Biological Age

Chronological age tells us how many years we’ve lived, but not how quickly our bodies are ageing. Some people stay healthy well into their 80s or 90s, while others experience decline much earlier.... Read more

Technology

view channel

Image: The device costs USD 2.19 per unit (Photo courtesy of Amanda H. Imamura/Sci Illustrations)

Portable Biosensor Diagnoses Psychiatric Disorders Using Saliva Samples

Early diagnosis of psychiatric disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder remains one of medicine’s most pressing challenges. Current diagnostic methods rely heavily on clinical... Read more

Cell-Sorting Device Uses Electromagnetic Levitation to Precisely Direct Cell Movement

Sorting different cell types—such as cancerous versus healthy or live versus dead cells—is a critical task in biology and medicine. However, conventional methods often require labeling, chemical exposure,... Read more

Image: Flowing red blood cells are imaged under the high-throughput QPM (Photo courtesy of W. Wang et al./Duke University)

Embedded GPU Platform Enables Rapid Blood Profiling for POC Diagnostics

Blood tests remain a cornerstone of medical diagnostics, but traditional imaging and analysis methods can be slow, costly, and reliant on dyes or contrast agents. Now, scientists have developed a real-time,... Read more

Image: The test will combine a serum with a liquid sample and apply it to the biosensor to quantify the virus at the RNA level (Photo courtesy of UCF College of Medicine)

Viral Biosensor Test Simultaneously Detects Hepatitis and HIV

Globally, over 300 million people live with Hepatitis B and C, and 40 million with HIV, according to WHO estimates. Diagnosing bloodborne viruses such as HIV and Hepatitis B and C remains challenging in... Read more

Industry

view channel

Co-Diagnostics Forms New Business Unit to Develop AI-Powered Diagnostics

Co-Diagnostics, Inc. (Salt Lake City, UT, USA) has formed a new artificial intelligence (AI) business unit to integrate the company's existing and planned AI applications into its Co-Dx Primer Ai platform.... Read more

Qiagen Acquires Single-Cell Omics Firm Parse Biosciences

QIAGEN (Venlo, Netherlands) has entered into a definitive agreement to fully acquire Parse Biosciences (Seattle, WA, USA), a provider of scalable, instrument-free solutions for single-cell research.... Read more

Image: Puritan’s booth at the recent ADLM 2025 in Chicago, IL (Photo courtesy of Puritan)

Puritan Medical Products Showcasing Innovation at AMP2025 in Boston

Puritan Medical Products (Guilford, ME, USA), the world’s most trusted manufacturer of swabs and specimen collection devices, is set to exhibit at AMP2025 in Boston, Massachusetts, from November 11–15.... Read more

Image: This strategic merger brings together two industry leaders with complementary strengths (Photo courtesy of Advanced Instruments)

Advanced Instruments Merged Under Nova Biomedical Name

Advanced Instruments (Norwood, MA, USA) and Nova Biomedical (Waltham, MA, USA) are now officially doing business under a single, unified brand. This transformation is expected to deliver greater value... Read more