DTT for corona test kits: Cfm Oskar Tropitzsch GmbH supplies world market leaders with important reagents

Corona tests are currently among the most popular products around the world, because: they save lives. If suspected Covid-19 cases are quickly confirmed by appropriate tests, those affected can receive immediate medical care and isolation.

According to statistics, an average of 216,192 tests per million inhabitants have already been carried out in Germany (as of October 13, 2020). At the top is Denmark (757,785 tests per million inhabitants), followed by Great Britain and the USA. (Source: Statista.com)

Cfm Oskar Tropitzsch GmbH supplies important components for diagnostics

One product is particularly important for the manufacture of the reagents for these test kits: DL-Dithiothreitol – or DTT for short. It preserves proteins in the cell interior in their functional form by preventing the oxidation of sulfhydryl groups (SH-) to disulfide bridges by atmospheric oxygen.

There are other uses for DTT, which we describe in our blog post “DL-Dithiothreitol – DTT as an important component in diagnostics“.

Challenges in the supply chain in times of a pandemic

In the past, our customer’s need for DTT was always very predictable, because: The forecasts were reliable and enabled us to plan precisely in terms of production and logistics.

But then the pandemic rolled towards us all – and the previously so reliable forecasts were suddenly history. The dynamics of the corona pandemic and the associated exponential increase in corona tests made planning practically impossible.

From now on, the need for DTT increased about 8-fold. At the same time, the lockdown threatened to shut down production. The availability of raw materials in this quantity was therefore questionable. Suppliers urgently needed financial support and the logistics department had other challenges to hand: The significantly higher amount of DTT had to be flown around the globe once and with falling freight capacities – because passenger planes hardly flew any more.

This situation has taught us one thing: A global supply of raw materials can only be ensured through open and honest communication between customers and suppliers, through long-term trust of the partners involved and through decisive action.

We are pleased to be able to supply the world market leader for Covid-19 test kits with this important reagent and thus to make a contribution to containing the pandemic.