CHENGDU, CHINA, September 29, 2020 – four vehicle-mounted nucleic acid testing labs, co-developed by MGI and Shudu Bus, are ready to launch in Sichun. They are equipped with MGI’s automation equipment and intelligent laboratory management system, and it only takes four persons to achieve a daily throughput of up to 20,000, making them one of the currently most efficient and movable packages on the market. The Mobile PCR Lab will be officially launched and delivered to key medical and health institutions in Sichuan Province.

This means that the Mobile PCR Lab with technical support from MGI will be a powerful support to the epidemic prevention and control in the upcoming fall and winter of this year.

The Mobile PCR Lab were ready to launch in Sichuan

The Mobile PCR Lab were ready to launch in Sichuan

Four vehicle-mounted nucleic acid testing labs were unveiled

Zhang Li, deputy director of Sichuan CDC, expressed her gratitude to all the units that participated in this project. She said: “At present, the COVID-19 pandemic is still going on all over the world, and there are risks of sporadic or local outbreaks in China. We need to implement normalized epidemic prevention and control measures of foreign defense input and internal defense rebound, and make full preparations for large-scale population screening. In less than two months, each unit cooperated with each other to complete the project design, equipment manufacturing and system verification, and finally successfully developed a high-throughput intelligent mobile nucleic acid detection vehicle. ”

Zhang Li, deputy director of Sichuan CDC

Wang Jian, chairman of MGI, said: "I hope that the ‘Huo-Yan’ vehicle-mounted integrated nucleic acid testing lab can not only play a key role in pathogen detection, but also be applied to cancer screening, reproductive health and other fields in the future. And I believe that Mobile PCR Lab will play a significant role and contribute to building a healthy China!”

 Wang Jian, Chairman of MGI

At the end of the ceremony, Li Gang, deputy governor of Sichuan Provincial People's Government, announced that the “Huo-Yan” Mobile PCR Lab were officially ready to launch!

Wang Jian (left), Chairman of MGI and, is introducing the MGI’s automated equipment and intelligent management system to Li Gang (right), deputy governor of Sichuan Provincial People's Government

Equipped with MGI’s automation equipment and intelligent laboratory management system, the Mobile PCR Lab can achieve a daily throughput of up to 20,000.

Under the "normalization" epidemic prevention and control, the construction of public health new infrastructure system needs to be widely configured with rapid and flexible integrated packages for pathogen detection. How to realize flexible, accurate, efficient and large-scale automated SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection in cross-regional and multi-scenario has become the key to prevent and control the COVID-19 in the post-pandemic period.

Zhaigang, deputy director of Sichuan Provincial Economy and Information Department, said: “Under the normalization epidemic prevention and control. Sichuan actively responds to requirements of the State Council, and all units and enterprises work together to enhance the capacity of nucleic acid detection in various regions. The vehicle-mounted “Huo-Yan” lab can cope with the long-distance and high-altitude environment, and will play a positive role in improving the mobile nucleic acid detection capability of Sichuan and even the whole country.”

Zhaigang, deputy director of Sichuan Provincial Economy and Information Department

Compared with the traditional P2 laboratory, the advantages of vehicle-mounted nucleic acid testing lab lies in its flexibility and mobility, which can help to break the geographical restrictions, and save manpower and site investment. In the same internal compartment space, the detection throughout (non-mixed samples) of vehicle-mounted "Huo-Yan" lab can reach 2,000 people, and in the case of mixed samples testing, up to 20,000 people. Moreover, the daily throughout of vehicle- mounted "Huo-Yan" is far higher than that of the similar labs. It is compatible with consumables and reagents of multiple brands, and is the highest throughout vehicle-mounted package on the market.

The mobile PCR lab can achieve high-throughput relies on the fact that the vehicle is equipped with "hard core” equipment such as MGI’s automated sample preparation system and automated sample transfer processing system. According to Jiang Hui, COO of MGI, "the MGISP-960, equipped in the car, makes high throughout in small space possible and improves the efficiency of nucleic acid extraction and detection. “The equipment has been operated in many "Huo-Yan" labs around the world, and over 500 MGISP-960 have been delivered to more than 30 countries and regions.”

The MGISP-960, equipped in the vehicle

In addition, with the intelligent laboratory management system, MGISP-7000, an automated sample transfer processing system made by MGI, can realize automatic barcode scan, information check and sample dispatch. It can transfer 192 samples from airtight sample tubes or plain tubes to 96-well microplates in 40 minutes with zero human contact during the process, which helps to decrease tedious sample pre-analytical steps and reduce the workload of lab technicians.

The MGISP-7000, equipped in the vehicle

The new “Huo-Yan” mode helps with the prevention and control of the epidemic in autumn and winter, and it only takes 4 people to operate a car!

According to the introduction, the vehicle-mounted nucleic acid testing lab, built in a large self-propelled passenger car, adopts various new technologies such as intelligent composite power supply, electronically controlled air suspension and electro-hydraulic leveling system. It is also equipped with HEPA negative pressure filtration system and ultraviolet disinfection system to effectively prevent pollution leakage and meet the P2 (Secondary Biosafety) laboratory standard.

Wang Rongkun, chairman of Chengdu Bus, said, "We will learn from the spirit of frontline workers and make our due contribution to the fight against the epidemic."

Wang Rongkun, chairman of Chengdu Bus

Since the most labor-intensive testing process is replaced by two fully automated equipment from MGI, the “Huo-Yan” vehicle-mounted nucleic acid testing lab only needs 4 people to operate, which includes 1 person in reagent preparation room, 2 people in sample processing room and 1 person in testing room. More notably, the fully automated equipment developed by MGI is easy to operate, and the technicians can be trained to work in a short time, in response to the overall prevention and control policy of “providing service at ordinary times, dealing with emergencies when urgent, and fighting in the wartime".

In addition, the mobile PCR lab is equipped with a vehicle-mounted network information system based on 5G technology to enable the detection report data to be transmitted through the network in time, which is of great help for the epidemic prevention and control and decision-making.

MGI’s Engineer is operating the equipment in the car

Up to now, “Huo-Yan” labs have played an important role in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. As of June 30, 2020, 58 “Huo-Yan” laboratories have been established in 17 countries and regions around the world, and the maximum daily detection throughout of the “Huo-Yan” laboratories has exceeded 200,000 people, so as to continuously meet the global detection demand and help the prevention and control of COVID-19 on a global scale.

In addition to the traditional “Huo-Yan” laboratories, MGI has successively launched a variety of more flexible and mobile “Huo-Yan” laboratories, such as Huo-Yan Lab in cabin, Huo-Yan Lab in tent, Huo-Yan air lab and mobile PCR lab. The vehicle-mounted mobile “Huo-Yan” lab was equipped with MGI’s automation equipment and intelligent laboratory management system, which has been officially launched, and it only takes four persons to achieve a daily throughput of up to 20,000. All of these contribute to the rapid improvement of the mobile capability of nucleic acid testing, and provide an integrated package for the establishment of the "Chinese model" of the disease control system reform and the building of "new infrastructure" of public health.

The vehicle-mounted integrated nucleic acid detection lab co-developed by MGI. After the official launch today, the “Huo-Yan” vehicle-mounted nucleic acid testing lab has the advantage of high flexibility and mobility to help provide efficient and convenient nucleic acid detection services for the people, and to meet the needs of the normalization of epidemic prevention and control.