◼COVID-19/ VIRUS BloombergBusinessweek March16, 202056
KRISZTIAN BOCSI/BLOOMBERG●ShortlyafterNewYear’s,OlfertLandtstarted
seeingnewsreportsofa strangediseasespreadingin
China.TheGermanscientist,who’sdevelopedtests
forailmentsrangingfromswineflutoSARS,sensed
anopportunity—anda newmission.Hespentthe
nextfewdaysquizzingvirologistsatBerlin’sCharité
hospitalandscouringtheinternetformoreinfor‑
mationonwhatsoonbecameknownasthenovel
coronavirus,andbyJan. 10 he’dintroduceda via‑
bletestkit.Hisphonehasn’tstoppedringingsince.
“Everyonehereis puttingin 12 ‑to 14 ‑hourshifts,”
theponytailedLandtsaysasherushesthroughthe
corridorsofTIBMolbiolSyntheselaborGmbH,the
Berlinbiotechcompanyhestartedthreedecades
ago.“We’renearingourlimit.”
Inthepasttwomonths,Landtandhisstaffat
thecompany’sproductionfacility—aformerindus‑
trialbuildingjustsouthofthedisusedTempelhof
airport—haveproduced40,000coronavirusdiag‑
nostickits,enoughforabout4 millionindividual
tests.TIB hasreoriented itsbusiness toward
coronavirus,runningitsmachinesthroughthe
nightandonweekendstomakethekits,which
sellforabout€160($180)apiece.Asordershave
pouredinfromtheWorldHealthOrganization,
nationalhealthauthorities,andlaboratoriesin
some 60 countries,TIB’srevenueinFebruary
tripledfromthesamemonthin2019.
TIB,whichlastyeargenerated€18millionin
sales,isoneofabouta scoreoftest‑kit produc‑
ers worldwide. Companies such as LGC Biosearch
Technologies in Britain, Spain’s CerTest Biotec,and Seoul‑based
Seegene Inc. are
seeing an explo‑
sion in demand as
authorities seek
to slow the virus’s
spread. South Korea
has tested more
than 210,000 people
and Italy more than 60,000. Efforts in the U.S. got
off to a rocky start when a diagnostic tool from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention proved
tobeflawed.TheU.S.hassincechangedthetest
andtakenstepstoexpandavailability,buttheCDC
haswarnedkitswon’tbereadyinthenumbers
promised by the Trump administration.● How do virus
tests work?
Overtheyears, TIBhasmade testsaimed at
diagnosingmorethan 100 ailments.Forthecorona‑
virus,LandtteamedupwithRocheHoldingAGto
distributethekit,whichworkswiththeSwissdrug‑
maker’sdiagnosticmachines.Thetestsusewhat’s
calledthepolymerasechainreaction,adiagnostic
method recommended by the WHO that ampli‑
fies the virus’s genetic code so it can be detected
before the onset of symptoms. The kit comes with
twovials:a primertohelpdetectaninfection,
anda syntheticallyengineeredpieceofthevirus,
whichlabsusetoproducea surefirepositive match
to ensure their machines are working correctly.
A lab technician combines these ingredients with
a patient’s mucus sample—usually from a throat or
nasal swab—and results are usually available in a
few hours.
The Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s equiva‑
lent to the CDC, is urging scientists to come up with
a simple tool that patients can administer them‑
selves and get almost immediate results—something
like home pregnancy tests. An interim step could
be revised procedures such as asking patients to▲ Landt◀ TIB’s lab has
been running flat
out for weeks▶ Each kit costs €160
and can be used for
about 100 testsWhy is testing so
complicated?