Today, IDbyDNA, the company revolutionizing the use of metagenomics to improve health by decoding the unknown, announced that Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital (RSPAD Gatot Soebroto) in Jakarta, Indonesia, is taking an innovative approach to fight COVID-19 by implementing IDbyDNA’s Explify Platform for detection of SARS-CoV-2 and hundreds of other pathogens in patients with COVID-19. COVID-19 cases in Indonesia now total nearly 40,000, with more than 2,000 reported deaths. A health ministry official has said that another 33,000 patients are suspected of having the novel coronavirus. As the main hospital for the President, Government Ministers, Military Officers of Republic of Indonesia and the Indonesian Army, RSPAD Gatot Soebroto and its affiliate, Indonesia Army Health Center, will be leveraging IDbyDNA’s Explify technology to provide advanced diagnostic insights for SARS‐CoV‐2. The groundbreaking approach to next-generation sequencing is more scalable, accurate and analyzes the genetic makeup of individual strains for better surveillance at the time of diagnosis.

“Like every country around the world right now, Indonesia is tasked with gaining a deeper and more accurate assessment into the spread of COVID-19 in order to protect its citizens. Time is of the essence,” said Jeff Field, CCO of IDbyDNA. “Because of our recently announced partnership with Illumina, we can now provide a complete NGS workflow solution that can be quickly and easily integrated into laboratories and hospitals around the world, like RSPAD. By enabling them to perform comprehensive NGS-based diagnostics, including broad pathogen detection, antimicrobial resistance and quantification, we are delivering more insights that were not previously possible, all within a more streamlined, scalable workflow.”

Through an agreement with Pishon Capital Limited, IDbyDNA’s Explify Platform will be used to analyze tens of thousands of cases throughout hospitals and institutes in Indonesia. With recent data showing that nearly 20 percent of COVID-19 positive patients may also have co-infections with bacteria and/or fungi, many of which can be treated, IDbyDNA can also deliver actionable information to clinicians making treatment decisions. The Explify Platform will also provide SARS-CoV-2 genomic information, including genetic mutations of viral strains from patient samples, that can be leveraged to track the virus.

“In this new phase of the pandemic where we need to understand the genomic footprint of this virus, it’s important that we move beyond traditional PCR testing and implement a better, more scalable and sustainable solution for accurate detection and genomic profiling of SARS‐CoV‐2 and its substrains,” said Ms. Rani Handayani, spokesperson for the Indonesia Army Health Center and RSPAD, and speaking on behalf of Dr. Junaedi, head of molecular laboratory and vaccine development of Indonesia Army Health Center.

Dr. Prihati Pujo Waskito SpJP(K), MMRS at RSPAD Gatot Soebroto added, “By leveraging IDbyDNA’s Explify Platform, this new testing approach will provide our clinicians with greater insights, allowing them to make better treatment decisions. Additionally, this approach also enables us to provide diagnostic services and surveillance simultaneously. We’re taking every step to mitigate the spread of this virus, which is why we’re looking to innovators, like IDbyDNA.”

IDbyDNA’s Explify Platform simultaneously profiles tens of thousands of microorganisms and pathogens in any sample to offer laboratories a streamlined path to offering unbiased, NGS-based laboratory developed tests (LDTs) that are more comprehensive. The proprietary Explify database includes millions of curated DNA and RNA reference sequences and can identify more than 50,000 microorganisms and over 6,000 known common and rare pathogens, including antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

This announcement was originally featured in PRWeb. Read it here: https://www.prweb.com/releases/idbydna_to_help_indonesian_government_fight_covid_19_pandemic/prweb17175791.htm