Viña Concha y Toro certifies its research laboratory to diagnose COVID-19 in Chile

Viña Concha y Toro has revealed two major initiatives which are part of its contribution to the Private Emergency Health Fund. The fund, which is led by Chile’s Confederation of Production and Commerce (CPC), is tasked with helping fight COVID-19.

Viña Concha y Toro will also donate a total of 50,000 liters of hand sanitizer to health authorities in different formats.

The molecular biology laboratory ran by Viña Concha y Toro’s Center for Research and Innovation (CRI) has been certified by Universidad Católica del Maule’s (UCM) Biomedical Research Laboratory to operate under the supervision of the Maule Region Health Service to carry out diagnostic tests to detect SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 as part of a network of laboratories connected by the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation.

The capabilities of the CRI’s molecular biology laboratory include process robotization and automation, including Hamilton Microlab StarLet robotic pipettor among other devices, which enables 2,300 samples per day to be processed, and a qPCR Thermofisher QuantStudio 5 with a diagnostic capacity of 768 samples per day.

“We want to collaborate with our capabilities to overcome this health crisis, supporting prevention and early diagnosis. As part of our contribution to the Private Emergency Health Fund, together with the donation of hand sanitizer to health authorities, we have also made our cutting-edge technological equipment and team of professionals at the Center for Research and Innovation available to them,” said Eduardo Guilisasti, CEO of Viña Concha y Toro.

The Private Emergency Health Fund has also been strengthening the diagnostic system, which has allowed daily extraction capacity to be quadrupled.