While the lack of coronavirus screening devices was at its height at the time of the health crisis, France is now struggling to run out of all available tests. The objectives set by the government have indeed pushed laboratories to mass production made possible by significant investments, reports LCI. Some 700,000 tests had to be produced each week.
The total financial effort of almost 30 million euros made by the private players in the sector has enabled them to acquire the adequate quantity of machines, swabs and reactive substances. These expenses came at a time when the laboratories also recorded a sharp drop in their activity during confinement. They now face a drop in turnover.
Too much supply, not enough demand
The epidemic is in sharp decline and the subjects to be tested are becoming increasingly rare. "We have more tests than requests," says the director general of the BioGroup laboratory, Doctor Caroline Sebaoun-Gustmuth. Its structure currently uses only 20% of its capacities. New tests are piling up in the laboratories and several machines purchased have not been used, or even unpacked.
Professionals are nevertheless trying to find outlets for these stocks. "Should we keep some of the reagents to deal with a second wave in late fall or this winter?" “Wonders for example François Blanchecotte, president of the Syndicate of biologists. Another option that could be considered is to resell this material abroad.
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