Alantra donates COVID-19 testing equipment to the Spanish National Research Council
Date 21 April 2020
Type Corporate News
Alantra has announced the donation of €305,000 for the acquisition of two high-performance robots for molecular diagnosis of COVID-19 virus (kingfisher model), as well the purchase of nine reactive kits, resulting in an initial round of 10,000 tests. The funding for this initiative has been provided entirely by Alantra, its executive partners, professionals, and its Board of Directors.
This high-performance equipment will reside at the Alberto Sols Biomedical Research Institute (IIBM-CSIC), part of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Universidad Autonoma of Madrid. The IIBM-CSIC is a highly regarded center for Biomedical Research in Spain, and its laboratory has received approval from the Spanish Science and Innovation Ministry to conduct PCR tests to detect COVID-19.
Using the resources provided by Alantra, the laboratory will be able to conduct almost 200 tests per hour and will become one of the largest non-hospital-based PCR diagnostic centers in Spain.
“I would like to thank all of our professionals, partners and Board Members who have contributed to the donation of these high-performance devices, which will significantly increase the ability of the IIBM-CSIC to conduct tests to detect COVID-19,” said Santiago Eguidazu, Executive Chairman of Alantra. “The emergency we are facing is a collective challenge that requires that we all do our best to help the authorities. Alantra is working to seek additional funds to back other initiatives, both in the field of medical diagnosis and in scientific research.”
“The donation announced by Alantra gives a decisive boost to the CSIC to carry out COVID-19 diagnostic tests in the Genomics service of the Institute for Biomedical Research, when it is most needed to know the true scope of this pandemic,” stated the president of the CSIC, Rosa Menéndez. “I want to convey my deepest and most sincere thanks for this support to all the professionals who have contributed to this initiative.”