Biocept says it has received more than 50,000 COVID-19 specimens for processing at its San Diego lab

Biocept Inc (NASDAQ:BIOC) announced Tuesday that it has received more than 50,000 COVID-19 specimens to date for processing through its RT-PCR technology at its San Diego lab. "We have continued to gain momentum in testing COVID-19 specimens while maintaining a standard of providing the vast majority of COVID-19 test results to our healthcare provider customers within 48 hours of receiving a sample," said CEO Michael Nall in a statement. "I am proud of our team for working hard to scale our business in a short time to handle this rapidly increasing volume." Biocept said its growing list of clients for COVID-19 testing includes hospitals, clinics, skilled nursing facilities, corporate clients, and athletic facilities. READ: Biocept's Target Selector outperforms traditional tumor cell detection test in metastatic lung cancer study The company is also reporting progress with its internally developed COVID-19 specimen collection kits.  Biocept said it has received verification from a contract research organization (CRO) of the viricidal effects of the specimen collection tube used for shipping patient samples, adding that this is an important gating factor prior to the adoption of the internally developed kits.  The Biocept-developed COVID-19 specimen collection kit will now be validated as part of the company's COVID-19 workflow in its lab prior to being sent to the US Food and Drug Administration for Emergency Use Authorization review.  Biocept said it remains on track for launching the Biocept-developed specimen collection kits later this year for use in its lab and for potential sales to other labs. Biocept’s lab is high-complexity, CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited with a BSL-2 safety level. Its specialized, licensed molecular lab staff have been trained in performing the COVID-19 testing. Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham