Biocair, a global specialist in life sciences logistics, was selected to transport time-critical plasmids from the USA to the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) in Durban, South Africa.
AHRI Faculty Member and Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, Dr Alex Sigal, highlighted the importance of the materials being transported and the standard of service provided by Biocair:
“These reagents that Biocair delivered to us from the USA, at record speed and surmounting considerable obstacles because of the lockdown both in the USA and in South Africa, will allow us to understand the immune response of people in KwaZulu-Natal to SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19.
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This vital shipment contained the human gene fragment which allows the virus to infect human cells. The shipment also contained a set of gene fragments allowing us to make non-infectious SARS-CoV-2 that is fluorescent.
The combination of both these reagents will allow us to test how quickly individuals in South Africa, including those diagnosed with HIV, are able to fight SARS-CoV-2 infection by producing antibodies which prevent the virus from infecting new cells.”
In a recent webinar sponsored by Biocair and hosted by the South African Clinical Research Association, Professor Salim S. Abdool Karim, FRS, Chair of the South African Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19, discussed the current situation and state of play in South Africa, in responding to the pandemic.
Despite the unprecedented situation we currently find ourselves in, Biocair is fully committed to delivering continuity of service within the life sciences supply chain.
