Perkin Elmer contract extended to operate Newport Lighthouse Laboratory

PerkinElmer has had its contract to operate the NHS Test and Trace Newport Lighthouse laboratory has been extended through March 2022.

Since being brought online in October 2020, the laboratory has processed over two million samples. The contract extension will see the facility’s approximately 125 employees retained at the state-of-the-art facility, to maintain its capacity of delivering tens of thousands of tests daily.  

As the nation transitions out of lockdown, the contract extension will ensure that PerkinElmer solutions and expertise will remain available and able to respond as needed. 

Chris Hughes, managing director UK & Ireland, PerkinElmer, said: “Testing is essential so that individuals carrying the virus can be rapidly detected and virus levels within communities can be monitored.

“The extension of the Newport Lighthouse laboratory’s contract will enable our specialist team to continue utilising our best-in-class technologies to ensure that maximum capacity will always align with NHS Test and Trace’s testing strategy, while also being able to quickly respond to evolving public health needs.”

Health minister Lord Bethell, added: “To help us face down this global pandemic, we have built the largest network of diagnostic testing facilities in British history, establishing the UK as a world-leader on testing. We have now conducted over 166 million tests to date – more than any other European country – and this would not have been possible without the work of our partners such as PerkinElmer. Regular testing is a centrepiece of our roadmap back to normal life and sites like the Newport Lighthouse Laboratory are playing a pivotal role in our cautious easing of restrictions and continued efforts to send this virus into retreat.”

PerkinElmer is utilising its chemagic 360 instruments and JANUS G3 PCR+ Workstations in UK labs to automate PerkinElmer’s RNA extraction and RT-PCR tests. This workflow solution enables rapid sample processing at higher volumes, helping to decrease turnaround time. PerkinElmer’s OneSource services and PerkinElmer Genomics operations enable this turnkey approach to provide sample testing in order to meet the Government’s COVID-19 testing requirements.